Bell Springs Road Climb from Redwood Highway
- long (12.3 km)
- 7.7 mi
- long (12.3 km)
- of climbing (702 m)
- 2,303 ft
- of climbing (702 m)
- average grade
- 5.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,421 ft at the bottom to 3,724 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 Bell Springs Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Bell Springs 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. Most of this climb is a dirt road, and falls away from public roads rarely reach police reports. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Bell Springs Road
- How long and steep is the Bell Springs Road from Redwood Highway climb?
- 7.7 miles (12.3 km) at 5.7% on average, climbing 2,303 ft (702 m) from 1,421 ft to 3,724 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.1%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.82739, -123.57211, where Bell Springs Road leaves Redwood Highway, and tops out on the road at 39.90987, -123.5954.
- Is Bell Springs Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 100% of the climb as dirt or gravel. Dirt roads can be closed in fire season or after rain, so check with the land manager.
- 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
- Hermitage RoadCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 7.3% · 584 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
- Red Mountain RoadCat 3 · 2.9 mi at 5% · 751 ft · starts 6.1 mi away
- Red Mountain RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 7.7% · 564 ft · starts 6.1 mi away
- Little Dann Creek RoadCat 2 · 3.4 mi at 10.9% · 1,959 ft · starts 6.4 mi away
- Spyrock RoadHC · dirt · 7.3 mi at 7.1% · 2,723 ft · starts 7.5 mi away
- Dunham RoadCat 2 · 4.8 mi at 6.7% · 1,690 ft · starts 7.7 mi away
- Green Bridge RoadCat 3 · 1.1 mi at 11.7% · 712 ft · starts 7.9 mi away
- Woodman Creek Road near WillitsCat 3 · 4.1 mi at 3.8% · 814 ft · starts 8.7 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 1: 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.