Colson Canyon Road Climb from La Brea Canyon Road
- long (5.1 km)
- 3.2 mi
- long (5.1 km)
- of climbing (332 m)
- 1,089 ft
- of climbing (332 m)
- average grade
- 6.5%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,043 ft at the bottom to 2,133 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 Colson Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Colson 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. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Colson Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Colson Canyon Road from La Brea Canyon Road climb?
- 3.2 miles (5.1 km) at 6.5% on average, climbing 1,089 ft (332 m) from 1,043 ft to 2,133 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 34.91721, -120.14337, where Colson Canyon Road leaves La Brea Canyon Road, and tops out on the road at 34.93399, -120.16376.
- Is Colson Canyon 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
- Colson Canyon Road near Santa MariaCat 2 · 4.6 mi at 5% · 1,227 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
- Tepusquet RoadCat 2 · 4.7 mi at 4.6% · 1,145 ft · starts 7.8 mi away
- Powerline Road from Santa Maria Mesa RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 7.8% · 545 ft · starts 8.4 mi away
- Power Line CanyonCat 2 · 3.0 mi at 7.9% · 1,263 ft · starts 8.9 mi away
- Zaca RoadCat 2 · 5.2 mi at 4.1% · 1,125 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Sierra Madre RoadCat 1 · dirt · 9.5 mi at 4.4% · 2,218 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Cat Canyon RoadCat 3 · 4.3 mi at 3.1% · 699 ft · starts 14 mi away
- Bates Canyon RoadHC · dirt · 7.6 mi at 7% · 2,799 ft · starts 14 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.