Cat 3 climb · Paved

Bob's Gap Road Climb

From Fort Tejon Road. Tops out at Panorama Road. Near Palmdale.
long (3.9 km)
2.4 mi
long (3.9 km)
of climbing (165 m)
541 ft
of climbing (165 m)
average grade
4.3%
average grade
steepest 500 m
5.4%
steepest 500 m

Elevation profile

3,5304,0721 mi2 mi0
Grade per 500 m:under 3%3–5%5–7%7–9%9–12%12% and up

From 3,530 ft at the bottom to 4,072 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 Bob's Gap Road climb
S: bottom, E: top. Map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Weather at the top of Bob's Gap Road this week

Weather

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Is it safe to bike up Bob's Gap 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 Bob's Gap Road

How long and steep is the Bob's Gap Road climb?
2.4 miles (3.9 km) at 4.3% on average, climbing 541 ft (165 m) from 3,530 ft to 4,072 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 5.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
Where does the climb start and finish?
It starts at 34.47584, -117.83408, where Bob's Gap Road leaves Fort Tejon Road, and tops out at Panorama Road at 34.45041, -117.81683.
Is Bob's Gap 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

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.