Blue Mountain Road Climb near Jackson
- long (12.2 km)
- 7.6 mi
- long (12.2 km)
- of climbing (504 m)
- 1,654 ft
- of climbing (504 m)
- average grade
- 4.1%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,638 ft at the bottom to 5,292 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 Blue Mountain Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Blue Mountain 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 Blue Mountain Road
- How long and steep is the Blue Mountain Road near Jackson climb?
- 7.6 miles (12.2 km) at 4.1% on average, climbing 1,654 ft (504 m) from 3,638 ft to 5,292 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.9%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.3808, -120.41923, and tops out at Forest Route 6N25 at 38.37831, -120.33496.
- Is Blue Mountain Road paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 59% of the climb as paved, and the rest as dirt or gravel.
- 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
- Mitchell Mill RoadCat 3 · 3.3 mi at 3.3% · 568 ft · starts 1.7 mi away
- Schadd's RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 4% · 581 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
- Ridgecrest WayCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 5.5% · 633 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- Summit Level RoadCat 1 · 14 mi at 3.4% · 2,467 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Blue Mountain Road from Poverty LaneCat 3 · 6.4 mi at 3.1% · 1,037 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- Railroad Flat Road near JacksonCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 8.6% · 653 ft · starts 4.6 mi away
- Silver Mountain RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 6.9% · 1,040 ft · starts 4.6 mi away
- Bald Mountain Road from Coon-HollowCat 3 · 3.3 mi at 3.1% · 531 ft · starts 4.7 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.