Highland Hills Road Climb
- long (6.1 km)
- 3.8 mi
- long (6.1 km)
- of climbing (358 m)
- 1,175 ft
- of climbing (358 m)
- average grade
- 5.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 17.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 318 ft at the bottom to 1,493 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 Highland Hills Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Highland Hills 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: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Highland Hills Road
- How long and steep is the Highland Hills Road climb?
- 3.8 miles (6.1 km) at 5.8% on average, climbing 1,175 ft (358 m) from 318 ft to 1,493 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 17.5%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 35.08871, -120.50947, where Highland Hills Road leaves Upper Los Berros Road, and tops out at Schau Peak at 35.08797, -120.47337.
- Is Highland Hills 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
- El Cazador WayCat 3 · 1.0 mi at 9.7% · 535 ft · starts 5.6 mi away
- Temettate DriveCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.2% · 528 ft · starts 6.2 mi away
- Gossip Rock RoadCat 3 · 0.7 mi at 13.6% · 528 ft · starts 6.6 mi away
- Upper Lopez Canyon Road from Hi Mountain RoadCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 9.1% · 577 ft · starts 7.7 mi away
- Upper Lopez Canyon Road from Wittenberg CreekCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 5.9% · 541 ft · starts 9.4 mi away
- Upper Lopez Canyon Road near Arroyo GrandeCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 6.2% · 610 ft · starts 9.5 mi away
- Morretti Canyon RoadCat 2 · 3.9 mi at 5.9% · 1,211 ft · starts 9.6 mi away
- Upper Lopez Canyon Road near Arroyo GrandeCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 11.6% · 528 ft · starts 10 mi away
Bike crash hotspots 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.