Forest Avenue Climb
- long (4.9 km)
- 3.0 mi
- long (4.9 km)
- of climbing (213 m)
- 699 ft
- of climbing (213 m)
- average grade
- 4.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 46 ft at the bottom to 745 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 Forest Avenue this week
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Is it safe to bike up Forest Avenue?
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. The records here are also incomplete: most reports along it are filed under Monterey, where only 45% of reported bike crashes have a map location, so the numbers here are too low. What the records show: 2 bike crashes were reported on or beside Forest Avenue along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Forest Avenue
- How long and steep is the Forest Avenue climb?
- 3.0 miles (4.9 km) at 4.4% on average, climbing 699 ft (213 m) from 46 ft to 745 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.62442, -121.91638, where Forest Avenue leaves Ocean View Boulevard, and tops out at 2 Huckleberry Hill at 36.58889, -121.92128.
- Is Forest Avenue 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
- Aguajito RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.6% · 673 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- South Boundary RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 3.9% · 712 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
- Cabrillo Highway from Rio RoadCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.2% · 558 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
- Rancho San Carlos RoadCat 2 · 4.1 mi at 5.6% · 1,204 ft · starts 6.7 mi away
- Red Wolf DriveCat 2 · 2.0 mi at 11.7% · 1,240 ft · starts 7.5 mi away
- Chamisal Pass from Boar RunCat 2 · 5.7 mi at 6.5% · 1,952 ft · starts 7.7 mi away
- Corona RoadCat 2 · 2.3 mi at 11.6% · 1,401 ft · starts 8.3 mi away
- Boots RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 12.5% · 830 ft · starts 8.6 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.