Big Morongo Canyon Road Climb
- long (16.6 km)
- 10 mi
- long (16.6 km)
- of climbing (1,184 m)
- 3,885 ft
- of climbing (1,184 m)
- average grade
- 7.1%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 20.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,726 ft at the bottom to 6,611 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 Morongo Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Big Morongo 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. 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 Big Morongo Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Big Morongo Canyon Road climb?
- 10 miles (16.6 km) at 7.1% on average, climbing 3,885 ft (1,184 m) from 2,726 ft to 6,611 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 20.9%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.06383, -116.55606, where Big Morongo Canyon Road leaves Fox Trail, and ends where the road ends at 34.1147, -116.67058.
- Is Big Morongo Canyon Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 90% 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
- 29 Palms Highway near Yucca ValleyCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.2% · 594 ft · starts 3.7 mi away
- Little Morongo Canyon RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.2 mi at 5.9% · 2,582 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Pipes Canyon RoadHC · dirt · 12 mi at 6.1% · 3,973 ft · starts 7.1 mi away
- Verbena DriveCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.4% · 558 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Sage AvenueCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 4.1% · 538 ft · starts 8.8 mi away
- Old Woman Springs RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6.2% · 551 ft · starts 9.3 mi away
- 29 Palms Highway near Desert Hot SpringsCat 2 · 9.1 mi at 3.3% · 1,588 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Sunny Vista RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.5% · 577 ft · starts 14 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Hors catégorie: 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.