Balcom Canyon Road Climb
- long (4.3 km)
- 2.7 mi
- long (4.3 km)
- of climbing (208 m)
- 682 ft
- of climbing (208 m)
- average grade
- 4.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 15.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 351 ft at the bottom to 1,033 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 Balcom Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Balcom Canyon 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: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside Balcom Canyon Road along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Balcom Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Balcom Canyon Road climb?
- 2.7 miles (4.3 km) at 4.8% on average, climbing 682 ft (208 m) from 351 ft to 1,033 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 15.7%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.35599, -118.98101, and tops out on the road at 34.32223, -118.97532.
- Is Balcom Canyon 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
- Toland RoadCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 6.6% · 817 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
- South Mountain Lookout Road near Santa PaulaCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 9.3% · 948 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Timber Canyon RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 9.3% · 850 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Boulder Creek Road from Lord Creek RoadCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 11.5% · 551 ft · starts 3.7 mi away
- Ensch RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 7.5% · 545 ft · starts 3.7 mi away
- Morgan Canyon Road from Richardson Canyon RoadCat 2 · 3.3 mi at 6.8% · 1,165 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Lemon Lease RoadCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 11.3% · 702 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- South Mountain Lookout Road from Mountain Lookout RoadCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 11.3% · 561 ft · starts 4.8 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.