Willow Pass Rd, Landana

Willow Pass Road is arguably the major artery going through Concord. It picks up where Taylor Blvd. leaves off at Contra Costa Blvd. The Sun Valley Mall is right at the corner. It is the biggest mall in this area and has all of the amenities you would expect from a mall—JCP Penny, Macy’s a Red Robin hamburger joint, the whole shebang.

As you cross under the 680 freeway (there are onramps and off ramps here) you come to another very nice shopping and eating area at Diamond Blvd. You can find a Sizzler and a Denny’s there and there are several other places up Diamond Blvd. to the north. There are also some office buildings and a gym there. This is also the location of one of the really great Concord eateries, the Elephant Bar—very yummy and reasonably priced though it is often fairly crowded and you will have to wait for a table.

Past the 242, you get yet another heavy shopping area with a pet store, electronics store, furniture store and several places to eat. You get just about everything from fast food to Indian, to Mexican food—a reflection of the cultural diversity of Concord large population.

As you reach Galindo Street you have probably the nicest shopping and recreation area in Concord. You have the Brendan Theatres right on the corner and then a half-price books and a Spaghetti Factory restaurant right across the street in Todos Santos Plaza. There is a very nice, though small park here, and several coffee shops and eateries in this area. Great for meeting up with friends and for first dates.

As you pass under the elevated rails of the BART, Willow Pass starts to become more residential. You get apartment buildings on the south side and Crossroads High School, a continuation school and a Montessori on the north. As Willow Pass turns northwest at Esperanza we get into a fully residential area, with some nice parks on the north side and then lots of apartments and houses.

As you start to get further along the northern side starts to become open fields. The southern side of Willow Pass fills with lower, flatter, older houses and apartment buildings. Many seventies style buildings here. You even get some trailer parks and So Cal style palm trees in this area. The northern part becomes more and more desert-like and soon you can see all the way to hills, where the wind farms are spinning on windy days.

Then, Willow Pass becomes a complete country road with empty grass fields on both sides. At this point it is just you and the telephone poles all the way to highway 4. It’s busy at rush hours with commuters.