Cat 2 climb · Paved

Foresthill Divide Road Climb

Tops out at Canada Hill. Near Colfax.
long (11.0 km)
6.8 mi
long (11.0 km)
of climbing (444 m)
1,457 ft
of climbing (444 m)
average grade
4%
average grade
steepest 500 m
9.8%
steepest 500 m

Elevation profile

5,2956,7522 mi4 mi6 mi0
Grade per 500 m:under 3%3–5%5–7%7–9%9–12%12% and up

From 5,295 ft at the bottom to 6,752 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.

Map of the Foresthill Divide Road climb
S: bottom, E: top. Map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Weather at the top of Foresthill Divide Road this week

Weather

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Is it safe to bike up Foresthill Divide 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: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside Foresthill Divide Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal.

Common questions about Foresthill Divide Road

How long and steep is the Foresthill Divide Road climb?
6.8 miles (11.0 km) at 4% on average, climbing 1,457 ft (444 m) from 5,295 ft to 6,752 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.8%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
Where does the climb start and finish?
It starts at 39.18187, -120.61466, and tops out at Canada Hill at 39.17695, -120.52992.
Is Foresthill Divide 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

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.