Mesa Grande Road Climb from Highway 76
- long (2.9 km)
- 1.8 mi
- long (2.9 km)
- of climbing (220 m)
- 722 ft
- of climbing (220 m)
- average grade
- 7.6%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.6%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,756 ft at the bottom to 3,478 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 Mesa Grande Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Mesa Grande 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 Mesa Grande Road
- How long and steep is the Mesa Grande Road from Highway 76 climb?
- 1.8 miles (2.9 km) at 7.6% on average, climbing 722 ft (220 m) from 2,756 ft to 3,478 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.6%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 33.21312, -116.73935, where Mesa Grande Road leaves Highway 76, and tops out on the road at 33.20665, -116.7495.
- Is Mesa Grande 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
- Route 79 near EscondidoCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 3.4% · 633 ft · starts 1.7 mi away
- East Grade RoadHC · 11 mi at 4.7% · 2,717 ft · starts 2.5 mi away
- Mataguay RoadCat 3 · 3.9 mi at 3.5% · 732 ft · starts 2.9 mi away
- Mesa Grande Road near PowayCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 3.7% · 535 ft · starts 6.3 mi away
- Lost Valley RoadCat 2 · 4.2 mi at 5% · 1,109 ft · starts 6.8 mi away
- Sutherland Dam RoadCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 4.9% · 764 ft · starts 7.1 mi away
- Black Mountain Road from Upper Santa Ysabel RoadCat 1 · dirt · 5.5 mi at 8% · 2,297 ft · starts 7.8 mi away
- Julian HighwayCat 2 · 7.0 mi at 3.6% · 1,329 ft · starts 8.1 mi away
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.