Luther Pass Road Climb from Portal Drive
- long (6.9 km)
- 4.3 mi
- long (6.9 km)
- of climbing (400 m)
- 1,312 ft
- of climbing (400 m)
- average grade
- 5.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 6.6%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 6,424 ft at the bottom to 7,736 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 Luther Pass Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Luther Pass 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 Luther Pass Road
- How long and steep is the Luther Pass Road from Portal Drive climb?
- 4.3 miles (6.9 km) at 5.8% on average, climbing 1,312 ft (400 m) from 6,424 ft to 7,736 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 6.6%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.8166, -120.01741, where Luther Pass Road leaves Portal Drive, and tops out at Grass Lake at 38.79639, -119.97546.
- Is Luther Pass 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
- South Upper Truckee RoadCat 3 · 3.3 mi at 3% · 535 ft · starts 0.9 mi away
- Route 50 from Pomo StreetCat 2 · 3.6 mi at 5.5% · 1,050 ft · starts 2.3 mi away
- Fountain Place RoadCat 2 · 4.5 mi at 5.3% · 1,260 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Old Luther Pass RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 5.8% · 663 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
- Angora Ridge RoadCat 3 · 3.3 mi at 4.3% · 732 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
- Luther Pass Road near South Lake TahoeCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 5.1% · 676 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
- Strawberry 4WD TrailCat 1 · dirt · 5.5 mi at 7.6% · 2,234 ft · starts 6.0 mi away
- Packsaddle Pass RoadCat 2 · 5.4 mi at 5.3% · 1,512 ft · starts 7.5 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.