Hobo Gulch Road Climb
- long (12.1 km)
- 7.5 mi
- long (12.1 km)
- of climbing (720 m)
- 2,362 ft
- of climbing (720 m)
- average grade
- 5.9%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,742 ft at the bottom to 4,104 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 Hobo Gulch Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Hobo Gulch 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. Most of this climb is a dirt road, and falls away from public roads rarely reach police reports. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Hobo Gulch Road
- How long and steep is the Hobo Gulch Road climb?
- 7.5 miles (12.1 km) at 5.9% on average, climbing 2,362 ft (720 m) from 1,742 ft to 4,104 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.5%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 40.81364, -123.12354, where Hobo Gulch Road leaves East Fork Road, and tops out on the road at 40.88219, -123.14602.
- Is Hobo Gulch Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 100% of the climb as dirt or gravel. Dirt roads can be closed in fire season or after rain, so check with the land manager.
- 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
- Brock Gulch RoadCat 2 · 4.2 mi at 6.3% · 1,398 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Canyon Creek RoadCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 4.9% · 669 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Big East Fork RoadCat 1 · dirt · 6.5 mi at 7.6% · 2,595 ft · starts 5.2 mi away
- Manzanita Ridge RoadHC · dirt · 5.5 mi at 11% · 3,182 ft · starts 6.6 mi away
- Corral Bottom RoadCat 1 · 5.3 mi at 8.3% · 2,329 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- Rattlesnake Gap RoadCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 8.6% · 663 ft · starts 8.8 mi away
- Soldier Creek RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.1 mi at 6.1% · 2,605 ft · starts 9.7 mi away
- Big French Creek RoadHC · dirt · 11 mi at 5.7% · 3,202 ft · starts 10.0 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 1: 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.