Defender Grade Road Climb
- long (2.8 km)
- 1.7 mi
- long (2.8 km)
- of climbing (204 m)
- 669 ft
- of climbing (204 m)
- average grade
- 7.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,421 ft at the bottom to 3,091 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 Defender Grade Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Defender Grade 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 Defender Grade Road
- How long and steep is the Defender Grade Road climb?
- 1.7 miles (2.8 km) at 7.4% on average, climbing 669 ft (204 m) from 2,421 ft to 3,091 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.9%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.41884, -120.55911, where Defender Grade Road leaves Red Corral Road, and tops out on the road at 38.42718, -120.57462.
- Is Defender Grade 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
- West Point Pioneer Road from Red Corral RoadCat 3 · 2.9 mi at 5.1% · 778 ft · starts 0.9 mi away
- Red Corral RoadCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 6.5% · 1,017 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Skull Flat RoadCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 5.7% · 955 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Winton RoadCat 2 · 8.1 mi at 3.8% · 1,631 ft · starts 2.2 mi away
- Old Giannini Ranch Road near JacksonCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 12.1% · 850 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Bald Mountain Road from Coon-HollowCat 3 · 3.3 mi at 3.1% · 531 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- Lily Gap RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.6% · 686 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- Old Giannini Ranch Road from Volcano Pioneer RoadCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 9% · 699 ft · starts 3.5 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.