Big Hill Road Climb from Sawmill Flat Road
- long (5.6 km)
- 3.5 mi
- long (5.6 km)
- of climbing (395 m)
- 1,296 ft
- of climbing (395 m)
- average grade
- 7.1%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.8%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,244 ft at the bottom to 3,540 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 Big Hill Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Big Hill 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 Big Hill Road
- How long and steep is the Big Hill Road from Sawmill Flat Road climb?
- 3.5 miles (5.6 km) at 7.1% on average, climbing 1,296 ft (395 m) from 2,244 ft to 3,540 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.8%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.03834, -120.37772, where Big Hill Road leaves Sawmill Flat Road, and tops out at Mountain Boy Mine Road at 38.04322, -120.34393.
- Is Big Hill 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
- Covington RoadCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 11.3% · 974 ft · starts 0.7 mi away
- Yankee Hill RoadCat 2 · 5.3 mi at 4% · 1,115 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Experimental Mine RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 7.7% · 535 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Italian Bar Road near SonoraCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 5.6% · 1,004 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Skyview DriveCat 3 · 1.0 mi at 12% · 646 ft · starts 2.7 mi away
- Five Mile Creek RoadCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6% · 554 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- Lyons Bald Mountain RoadCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 7.3% · 761 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Parrotts Ferry RoadCat 3 · 4.3 mi at 4.5% · 1,037 ft · starts 4.1 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.