Mount Watson Boulevard Climb from Deer Creek Road
- long (6.3 km)
- 3.9 mi
- long (6.3 km)
- of climbing (280 m)
- 919 ft
- of climbing (280 m)
- average grade
- 4.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.4%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 6,955 ft at the bottom to 7,874 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 Watson Boulevard this week
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Is it safe to bike up Mount Watson Boulevard?
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 Mount Watson Boulevard
- How long and steep is the Mount Watson Boulevard from Deer Creek Road climb?
- 3.9 miles (6.3 km) at 4.4% on average, climbing 919 ft (280 m) from 6,955 ft to 7,874 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.20046, -120.16934, where Mount Watson Boulevard leaves Deer Creek Road, and tops out on the road at 39.23006, -120.14398.
- Is Mount Watson Boulevard 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
- Alpine Meadows RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 4% · 722 ft · starts 1.7 mi away
- Courchevel RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 5% · 594 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
- Mount Watson Boulevard from Sawmill FlatCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 4.8% · 748 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Barker Pass RoadCat 2 · 6.9 mi at 4.2% · 1,526 ft · starts 6.0 mi away
- Highlands View RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 4.2% · 607 ft · starts 6.5 mi away
- Martis Peak RoadCat 2 · 4.0 mi at 8% · 1,699 ft · starts 6.9 mi away
- North Shore BoulevardCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 5.5% · 942 ft · starts 7.8 mi away
- Northwoods BoulevardCat 3 · 4.3 mi at 3.3% · 755 ft · starts 9.1 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
Bike crash hotspots nearby
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.