Balch Penstock Road Climb
- long (2.1 km)
- 1.3 mi
- long (2.1 km)
- of climbing (296 m)
- 971 ft
- of climbing (296 m)
- average grade
- 13.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 16%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,035 ft at the bottom to 4,006 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.
Weather at the top of Balch Penstock Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Balch Penstock Road?
We don't rate roads as safe or unsafe: crash counts can't say how risky a ride is, and roads people like to ride draw more riders, so they see more crashes. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Balch Penstock Road
- How long and steep is the Balch Penstock Road climb?
- 1.3 miles (2.1 km) at 13.8% on average, climbing 971 ft (296 m) from 3,035 ft to 4,006 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 16%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.9138, -119.08076, where Balch Penstock Road leaves Blackrock Road, and ends where the road ends at 36.91998, -119.08357.
- Is Balch Penstock Road paved?
- Yes, by its OpenStreetMap tags.
- How is the category worked out?
- From the climb's shape only: length in metres × average grade (%) of 16,000 or more for Cat 3, 32,000 for Cat 2, 64,000 for Cat 1 and 80,000 for HC. It describes how hard the climb is, not traffic or crashes.
- Where does this data come from?
- The climb is found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation (every climb, not a list of famous ones). Access is from OpenStreetMap tags; gates and closures change, so obey posted signs. Crash counts are police reports in the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS) on data.ca.gov, counted where their map location is within 100 ft of the climb. The forecast is from the National Weather Service.
Other climbs nearby
- Blackrock RoadHC · dirt · 12 mi at 4.6% · 2,887 ft · starts 2.2 mi away
- Blackrock Road from Trimmer Springs RoadHC · 9.9 mi at 5.7% · 2,976 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Sycamore Springs RoadCat 1 · dirt · 5.5 mi at 7.9% · 2,300 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Trimmer Springs Road near Orange CoveCat 3 · 5.4 mi at 3.6% · 1,007 ft · starts 4.5 mi away
- Crabtree Road from US Forest Service Road 12501Cat 1 · dirt · 7.0 mi at 5.9% · 2,169 ft · starts 4.9 mi away
- Ross Crossing RoadCat 2 · 9.4 mi at 3.5% · 1,722 ft · starts 5.7 mi away
- Ross Crossing RoadHC · dirt · 13 mi at 4.6% · 3,159 ft · starts 5.7 mi away
- Courtright WayCat 2 · 5.2 mi at 5% · 1,368 ft · starts 7.7 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 3: length in metres × average grade (%) of 16,000 or more for Cat 3, 32,000 for Cat 2, 64,000 for Cat 1 and 80,000 for HC. It describes how hard the climb is, not traffic or crashes. Crashes: bike crashes reported within 100 ft of the climb, 2021–2025, from the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS), counted only where the report has map coordinates. Weather: National Weather Service. Access from OpenStreetMap tags; obey posted signs. How the data works.