Big Ridge Road Climb near Paradise
- long (3.3 km)
- 2.1 mi
- long (3.3 km)
- of climbing (255 m)
- 837 ft
- of climbing (255 m)
- average grade
- 7.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,103 ft at the bottom to 2,940 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 Ridge Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Big Ridge 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 Ridge Road
- How long and steep is the Big Ridge Road near Paradise climb?
- 2.1 miles (3.3 km) at 7.7% on average, climbing 837 ft (255 m) from 2,103 ft to 2,940 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.70652, -121.35052, and tops out at French Creek Road at 39.68664, -121.36009.
- Is Big Ridge 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
- French Creek Road near ParadiseCat 2 · 4.5 mi at 4.6% · 1,093 ft · starts 1.3 mi away
- Four Mile Ridge RoadCat 2 · 3.0 mi at 7.8% · 1,220 ft · starts 1.6 mi away
- Merrimac RoadCat 2 · 4.6 mi at 7.3% · 1,768 ft · starts 2.1 mi away
- Stump Ranch RoadCat 3 · 0.5 mi at 20.9% · 574 ft · starts 2.3 mi away
- Bucks Lake Road from Oroville-Quincy HighwayCat 1 · 13 mi at 3.6% · 2,500 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Bonnie Meadow LaneCat 3 · 0.3 mi at 51.3% · 689 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Big Ridge Road near ParadiseCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 4.8% · 640 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Milsap Bar RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.1 mi at 5.8% · 2,461 ft · starts 4.2 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.