Cat 3 climb · Paved

Hillside Drive Climb from East Torrey Pines Road

From East Torrey Pines Road. Tops out at Via Capri. Near Del Mar.
long (2.1 km)
1.3 mi
long (2.1 km)
of climbing (178 m)
584 ft
of climbing (178 m)
average grade
8.6%
average grade
steepest 500 m
9.4%
steepest 500 m

Elevation profile

1187020
Grade per 500 m:under 3%3–5%5–7%7–9%9–12%12% and up

From 118 ft at the bottom to 702 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.

Map of the Hillside Drive from East Torrey Pines Road climb
S: bottom, E: top. Map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Weather at the top of Hillside Drive this week

Weather

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Is it safe to bike up Hillside Drive?

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 Hillside Drive

How long and steep is the Hillside Drive from East Torrey Pines Road climb?
1.3 miles (2.1 km) at 8.6% on average, climbing 584 ft (178 m) from 118 ft to 702 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
Where does the climb start and finish?
It starts at 32.84935, -117.26164, where Hillside Drive leaves East Torrey Pines Road, and tops out at Via Capri at 32.84008, -117.24986.
Is Hillside Drive 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

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.