Hawthorne Boulevard Climb from Palos Verdes Drive West
- long (5.8 km)
- 3.6 mi
- long (5.8 km)
- of climbing (253 m)
- 830 ft
- of climbing (253 m)
- average grade
- 4.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.4%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 262 ft at the bottom to 1,093 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 Hawthorne Boulevard this week
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Is it safe to bike up Hawthorne Boulevard?
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: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Hawthorne Boulevard
- How long and steep is the Hawthorne Boulevard from Palos Verdes Drive West climb?
- 3.6 miles (5.8 km) at 4.4% on average, climbing 830 ft (253 m) from 262 ft to 1,093 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 33.74941, -118.40778, where Hawthorne Boulevard leaves Palos Verdes Drive West, and tops out on the road at 33.77936, -118.38908.
- Is Hawthorne Boulevard 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
- Crest RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.7% · 702 ft · starts 0.5 mi away
- Via CoronelCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.8% · 728 ft · starts 2.2 mi away
- Via del MonteCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 5.6% · 571 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Crenshaw Boulevard from Palos Verdes Drive NorthCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 7.1% · 771 ft · starts 3.9 mi away
- Hawthorne Boulevard near Rolling Hills EstatesCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 5.4% · 1,014 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Crenshaw Boulevard near LomitaCat 2 · 3.8 mi at 5.5% · 1,106 ft · starts 5.6 mi away
- Palos Verdes Drive EastCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 3.9% · 728 ft · starts 5.8 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.