Safe Streets Map
Cat 3 climb · Paved

Black Meadow Road Climb

From Erries Way. Tops out at Trails End Camp Road.
long (5.1 km)
3.1 mi
long (5.1 km)
of climbing (170 m)
558 ft
of climbing (170 m)
average grade
3.4%
average grade
steepest 500 m
5.3%
steepest 500 m
Open on the mapGoogle Maps to the bottom

Elevation profile

4791,0371 mi2 mi0
Grade per 500 m:under 3%3–5%5–7%7–9%9–12%12% and up

From 479 ft at the bottom to 1,037 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.

Map of the Black Meadow Road climb
S: bottom, E: top. Map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Weather at the top of Black Meadow Road this week

Weather

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Is it safe to bike up Black Meadow 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 Black Meadow Road

How long and steep is the Black Meadow Road climb?
3.1 miles (5.1 km) at 3.4% on average, climbing 558 ft (170 m) from 479 ft to 1,037 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 5.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
Where does the climb start and finish?
It starts at 34.34975, -114.19618, where Black Meadow Road leaves Erries Way, and tops out at Trails End Camp Road at 34.31968, -114.22446.
Is Black Meadow 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.

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.