Kelso Valley Road Climb
- long (11.6 km)
- 7.2 mi
- long (11.6 km)
- of climbing (346 m)
- 1,135 ft
- of climbing (346 m)
- average grade
- 3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.4%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,812 ft at the bottom to 4,948 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 Kelso Valley Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Kelso Valley 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 Kelso Valley Road
- How long and steep is the Kelso Valley Road climb?
- 7.2 miles (11.6 km) at 3% on average, climbing 1,135 ft (346 m) from 3,812 ft to 4,948 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.4%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 35.35243, -118.2193, and tops out on the road at 35.45057, -118.2243.
- Is Kelso Valley 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
- Jawbone Canyon Road near TehachapiHC · dirt · 7.5 mi at 7.8% · 3,077 ft · starts 0.8 mi away
- Zachery RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 6.2% · 784 ft · starts 7.1 mi away
- Franceschi Mine RoadHC · dirt · 6.1 mi at 8.5% · 2,759 ft · starts 8.0 mi away
- Piute Mountain Road from Kelso Valley RoadCat 1 · dirt · 6.6 mi at 7.4% · 2,585 ft · starts 8.8 mi away
- Paradise Valley RoadCat 3 · 3.1 mi at 4.5% · 745 ft · starts 9.2 mi away
- Piute Mountain Road from Walker Basin RoadHC · dirt · 8.0 mi at 9.1% · 3,855 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Sand Canyon Road from Caliente Creek RoadCat 2 · 5.9 mi at 4.8% · 1,509 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Saint Candor near TehachapiCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 7.8% · 663 ft · starts 12 mi away
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.