Felton Empire Road Climb
- long (6.0 km)
- 3.7 mi
- long (6.0 km)
- of climbing (462 m)
- 1,516 ft
- of climbing (462 m)
- average grade
- 7.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.2%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 299 ft at the bottom to 1,814 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 Felton Empire Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Felton Empire 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: 2 bike crashes were reported on or beside Felton Empire Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal.
Common questions about Felton Empire Road
- How long and steep is the Felton Empire Road climb?
- 3.7 miles (6.0 km) at 7.7% on average, climbing 1,516 ft (462 m) from 299 ft to 1,814 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.2%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.05309, -122.07333, where Felton Empire Road leaves Graham Hill Road, and tops out at Empire Grade at 37.05794, -122.12312.
- Is Felton Empire 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
- El Solyo Heights DriveCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 11.5% · 755 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Alba RoadCat 2 · 3.7 mi at 10.4% · 2,028 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- Fanning GradeCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 9.5% · 886 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Roberts RoadCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 8.7% · 673 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Ridge Road from Roberts RoadCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 8.9% · 581 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Smith GradeCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 6.4% · 656 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Western AvenueCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 13.1% · 804 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Santa Cruz Highway near Scotts ValleyCat 2 · 5.8 mi at 3.8% · 1,161 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
Bike crash hotspots nearby
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.