Macks Gulch Road Climb
- long (8.9 km)
- 5.5 mi
- long (8.9 km)
- of climbing (661 m)
- 2,169 ft
- of climbing (661 m)
- average grade
- 7.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 16.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,956 ft at the bottom to 5,125 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 Macks Gulch Road this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Macks 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 Macks Gulch Road
- How long and steep is the Macks Gulch Road climb?
- 5.5 miles (8.9 km) at 7.4% on average, climbing 2,169 ft (661 m) from 2,956 ft to 5,125 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 16.1%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 41.50339, -122.54938, where Macks Gulch Road leaves Gazelle Callahan Road, and tops out on the road at 41.50887, -122.629.
- Is Macks Gulch Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 60% 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
- Off RoadHC · dirt · 3.2 mi at 17.9% · 3,061 ft · starts 1.4 mi away
- Gazelle Callahan Road near WeedCat 1 · 11 mi at 3.8% · 2,178 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Scarface Road near WeedCat 2 · 8.8 mi at 4.4% · 2,037 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Cram Gulch RoadCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.8% · 712 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Dewey Mine RoadCat 1 · dirt · 4.8 mi at 9.3% · 2,362 ft · starts 5.5 mi away
- Parks Creek Road from Stewart Springs RoadHC · 9.1 mi at 6.3% · 3,041 ft · starts 6.2 mi away
- Stewart Springs RoadCat 2 · 5.8 mi at 5.6% · 1,719 ft · starts 6.9 mi away
- Guys Gulch RoadCat 3 · 3.7 mi at 4% · 778 ft · starts 9.5 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.