Crystal Lake Road Climb
- long (3.9 km)
- 2.4 mi
- long (3.9 km)
- of climbing (223 m)
- 732 ft
- of climbing (223 m)
- average grade
- 5.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.4%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 5,098 ft at the bottom to 5,830 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 Crystal Lake Road this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Crystal Lake 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 Crystal Lake Road
- How long and steep is the Crystal Lake Road climb?
- 2.4 miles (3.9 km) at 5.8% on average, climbing 732 ft (223 m) from 5,098 ft to 5,830 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.31448, -117.83665, where Crystal Lake Road leaves San Gabriel Canyon Road, and ends where the road ends at 34.32677, -117.83169.
- Is Crystal Lake 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
- Angeles Crest Highway near DuarteCat 2 · 6.4 mi at 3.5% · 1,171 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- Upper Monroe Truck TrailCat 1 · dirt · 7.2 mi at 5.5% · 2,110 ft · starts 5.4 mi away
- San Gabriel Canyon Road from West Fork TrailHC · 11 mi at 6.1% · 3,648 ft · starts 5.4 mi away
- Rincon Red Box Truck TrailHC · dirt · 12 mi at 5.3% · 3,232 ft · starts 5.5 mi away
- Angeles Crest Highway from Fenner Saddle Road near GlendoraCat 3 · 3.1 mi at 5% · 807 ft · starts 6.3 mi away
- Angeles Crest Highway from Fenner Saddle Road near GlendoraCat 2 · 5.2 mi at 4.8% · 1,319 ft · starts 6.3 mi away
- Glendora Mountain Road from East Fork RoadCat 2 · 5.3 mi at 5.7% · 1,591 ft · starts 7.0 mi away
- Glendora Ridge RoadCat 2 · 5.4 mi at 4.3% · 1,214 ft · starts 8.1 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.