French Hill Road Climb
- long (22.0 km)
- 14 mi
- long (22.0 km)
- of climbing (1,148 m)
- 3,766 ft
- of climbing (1,148 m)
- average grade
- 5.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 15%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 338 ft at the bottom to 4,104 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 French Hill Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up French Hill 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. Most of this climb is a dirt road, and falls away from public roads rarely reach police reports. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about French Hill Road
- How long and steep is the French Hill Road climb?
- 14 miles (22.0 km) at 5.2% on average, climbing 3,766 ft (1,148 m) from 338 ft to 4,104 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 15%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 41.84287, -124.00783, where French Hill Road leaves Redwood Highway, and tops out at Gordon Mountain at 41.79959, -123.86791.
- Is French Hill Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 100% of the climb as dirt or gravel. Dirt roads can be closed in fire season or after rain, so check with the land manager.
- 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
- Gasquet Mountain RoadCat 1 · dirt · 4.6 mi at 9.1% · 2,208 ft · starts 0.4 mi away
- Low Divide RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.6 mi at 5% · 2,274 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Patrick Creek RoadCat 1 · dirt · 11 mi at 3.7% · 2,165 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Bear Basin Road from 17N38Cat 1 · 7.7 mi at 6.1% · 2,484 ft · starts 9.2 mi away
- Rowdy Creek RoadCat 2 · 5.7 mi at 6.8% · 2,044 ft · starts 9.2 mi away
- Holiday RoadCat 1 · dirt · 6.1 mi at 7.6% · 2,451 ft · starts 9.3 mi away
- Bear Basin Road near Crescent CityCat 2 · 3.5 mi at 7.4% · 1,355 ft · starts 9.6 mi away
- Redwood Highway near Crescent CityCat 2 · 5.1 mi at 5% · 1,345 ft · starts 11 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Hors catégorie: 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.