Mount Hamilton Road Climb from Alum Rock Avenue
- long (9.6 km)
- 6.0 mi
- long (9.6 km)
- of climbing (456 m)
- 1,496 ft
- of climbing (456 m)
- average grade
- 4.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 6.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 404 ft at the bottom to 1,900 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 Mount Hamilton Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Mount Hamilton 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: 5 bike crashes were reported on or beside Mount Hamilton Road along the climb from 2021–2025. Of the 5 where the cyclist's direction along the climb can be read, 4 were coming down and 1 going up.
Common questions about Mount Hamilton Road
- How long and steep is the Mount Hamilton Road from Alum Rock Avenue climb?
- 6.0 miles (9.6 km) at 4.7% on average, climbing 1,496 ft (456 m) from 404 ft to 1,900 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 6.3%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.38403, -121.81606, where Mount Hamilton Road leaves Alum Rock Avenue, and tops out on the road at 37.3546, -121.74097.
- Is Mount Hamilton 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
- Crothers RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 8.3% · 551 ft · starts 0.6 mi away
- Suncrest AvenueCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 8.7% · 587 ft · starts 1.8 mi away
- Clayton RoadCat 3 · 4.0 mi at 4.3% · 922 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Sierra RoadCat 2 · 3.9 mi at 9% · 1,854 ft · starts 2.1 mi away
- Higuera RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6.7% · 614 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Higuera Highland LaneCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 13.4% · 860 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Felter RoadCat 2 · 6.0 mi at 5.3% · 1,693 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- Quimby Road from Davidwood WayCat 2 · 4.6 mi at 8.3% · 2,021 ft · starts 4.3 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.