Highway 4 Climb from Six Mile Road
- long (34.2 km)
- 21 mi
- long (34.2 km)
- of climbing (1,017 m)
- 3,337 ft
- of climbing (1,017 m)
- average grade
- 3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 6.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,677 ft at the bottom to 5,013 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 Highway 4 this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Highway 4?
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: 2 bike crashes were reported on or beside Highway 4 along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Highway 4
- How long and steep is the Highway 4 from Six Mile Road climb?
- 21 miles (34.2 km) at 3% on average, climbing 3,337 ft (1,017 m) from 1,677 ft to 5,013 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 6.7%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.09091, -120.50353, where Highway 4 leaves Six Mile Road, and tops out at CBTSP Fire Road at 38.28818, -120.2997.
- Is Highway 4 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
- French Gulch Road from Murphys Grade RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 4.7% · 843 ft · starts 1.3 mi away
- Red Hill RoadCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 3.3% · 623 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Pennsylvania Gulch RoadCat 3 · 4.3 mi at 4.3% · 984 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- Parrotts Ferry RoadCat 3 · 4.3 mi at 4.5% · 1,037 ft · starts 4.6 mi away
- Crestview RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 9.9% · 659 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Skunk Ranch RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 6.8% · 778 ft · starts 4.8 mi away
- Esmeralda RoadCat 3 · 4.0 mi at 4.7% · 1,004 ft · starts 4.8 mi away
- Sheep Ranch Road from San Domingo RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 6.1% · 909 ft · starts 4.8 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.