Dolan Ridge Road Climb
- long (2.7 km)
- 1.7 mi
- long (2.7 km)
- of climbing (279 m)
- 915 ft
- of climbing (279 m)
- average grade
- 10.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 12.8%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 436 ft at the bottom to 1,352 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 Dolan Ridge Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Dolan Ridge 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 Dolan Ridge Road
- How long and steep is the Dolan Ridge Road climb?
- 1.7 miles (2.7 km) at 10.2% on average, climbing 915 ft (279 m) from 436 ft to 1,352 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 12.8%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.11847, -121.63019, where Dolan Ridge Road leaves Cabrillo Highway, and ends where the road ends at 36.11807, -121.62048.
- Is Dolan Ridge 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
- South Access RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.5 mi at 5.5% · 2,474 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Rodeo Flat TrailCat 1 · dirt · 2.6 mi at 15.2% · 2,113 ft · starts 8.0 mi away
- Hermitage Road from Cabrillo HighwayCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 9.7% · 774 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Tassajara Road near SoledadHC · 4.9 mi at 11.8% · 3,064 ft · starts 9.1 mi away
- North Coast Ridge RoadHC · dirt · 14 mi at 4.1% · 2,936 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Indians Road from Milpitas RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 7.4% · 548 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Nacimiento-Fergusson RoadCat 1 · 7.0 mi at 7.1% · 2,595 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Tassajara Road from Jeffery RoadCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.5% · 545 ft · starts 13 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.