Gibraltar Road Climb
- long (10.5 km)
- 6.5 mi
- long (10.5 km)
- of climbing (812 m)
- 2,664 ft
- of climbing (812 m)
- average grade
- 7.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 794 ft at the bottom to 3,458 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 Gibraltar Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Gibraltar 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: 7 bike crashes were reported on or beside Gibraltar Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 2 of them serious or fatal. Of the 5 where the cyclist's direction along the climb can be read, 5 were coming down and 0 going up.
Common questions about Gibraltar Road
- How long and steep is the Gibraltar Road climb?
- 6.5 miles (10.5 km) at 7.7% on average, climbing 2,664 ft (812 m) from 794 ft to 3,458 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.3%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.44896, -119.69371, where Gibraltar Road leaves Mountain Drive, and tops out at East Camino Cielo Road at 34.49109, -119.69013.
- Is Gibraltar 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
- Tunnel Road from Mission Canyon RoadCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 7.9% · 945 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Las Alturas RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 8.2% · 587 ft · starts 1.3 mi away
- Hot Springs Road near Santa BarbaraCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 5% · 656 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- East Camino Cielo Road from Gibraltar RoadCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.3% · 545 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Chumash Highway near Santa BarbaraCat 2 · 6.9 mi at 5.2% · 1,870 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- East Camino Cielo Road from Arroyo Burro RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 6% · 860 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- North San Marcos RoadCat 2 · 4.1 mi at 6% · 1,289 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
- Painted Cave RoadCat 2 · 3.1 mi at 8.3% · 1,371 ft · starts 6.5 mi away
Bike crash hotspots nearby
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.