Cuesta Real Climb
- long (2.4 km)
- 1.5 mi
- long (2.4 km)
- of climbing (186 m)
- 610 ft
- of climbing (186 m)
- average grade
- 7.9%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 446 ft at the bottom to 1,056 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 Cuesta Real this week
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Is it safe to bike up Cuesta Real?
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 Cuesta Real
- How long and steep is the Cuesta Real climb?
- 1.5 miles (2.4 km) at 7.9% on average, climbing 610 ft (186 m) from 446 ft to 1,056 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.5%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.31884, -122.27149, where Cuesta Real leaves Play Bowl Drive, and tops out at Water District Trail at 37.31621, -122.25723.
- Is Cuesta Real paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 72% 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
- Pescadero Creek Road from Pescadero RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6.9% · 607 ft · starts 1.4 mi away
- Alpine Road from Pescadero Creek RoadCat 2 · 6.6 mi at 5.6% · 1,962 ft · starts 1.4 mi away
- Old La Honda Road from La Honda RoadCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 4.4% · 581 ft · starts 2.7 mi away
- Pescadero Creek Road near Portola ValleyCat 3 · 3.7 mi at 4.6% · 892 ft · starts 3.7 mi away
- Bear Gulch RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 6.9% · 971 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Vista Verde WayCat 3 · 1.1 mi at 10.5% · 600 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
- Skyline Boulevard from La Honda RoadCat 3 · 4.4 mi at 3.7% · 866 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Los Trancos RoadCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.2% · 574 ft · starts 4.9 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
Bike crash hotspots 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.