Barker Pass Road Climb
- long (11.1 km)
- 6.9 mi
- long (11.1 km)
- of climbing (465 m)
- 1,526 ft
- of climbing (465 m)
- average grade
- 4.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.2%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 6,243 ft at the bottom to 7,769 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 Barker Pass Road this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Barker Pass 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 Barker Pass Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal.
Common questions about Barker Pass Road
- How long and steep is the Barker Pass Road climb?
- 6.9 miles (11.1 km) at 4.2% on average, climbing 1,526 ft (465 m) from 6,243 ft to 7,769 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.2%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.11349, -120.15813, where Barker Pass Road leaves West Lake Boulevard, and tops out on the road at 39.07209, -120.23095.
- Is Barker Pass 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
- Courchevel RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 5% · 594 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Alpine Meadows RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 4% · 722 ft · starts 5.4 mi away
- Mount Watson Boulevard from Deer Creek RoadCat 3 · 3.9 mi at 4.4% · 919 ft · starts 6.0 mi away
- Emerald Bay RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6.3% · 554 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Lester Beach RoadCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 5.4% · 531 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Mount Watson Boulevard from Sawmill FlatCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 4.8% · 748 ft · starts 9.9 mi away
- North Shore BoulevardCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 5.5% · 942 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Martis Peak RoadCat 2 · 4.0 mi at 8% · 1,699 ft · starts 12 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 2: 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.