North San Marcos Road Climb
- long (6.6 km)
- 4.1 mi
- long (6.6 km)
- of climbing (393 m)
- 1,289 ft
- of climbing (393 m)
- average grade
- 6%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.6%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 102 ft at the bottom to 1,391 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 North San Marcos Road this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up North San Marcos 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: 3 bike crashes were reported on or beside North San Marcos Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 2 of them serious or fatal. Of the 3 where the cyclist's direction along the climb can be read, 3 were coming down and 0 going up.
Common questions about North San Marcos Road
- How long and steep is the North San Marcos Road climb?
- 4.1 miles (6.6 km) at 6% on average, climbing 1,289 ft (393 m) from 102 ft to 1,391 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.6%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.44511, -119.79707, where North San Marcos Road leaves University Drive, and tops out at Chumash Highway at 34.49129, -119.79538.
- Is North San Marcos 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
- Chumash Highway near Santa BarbaraCat 2 · 6.9 mi at 5.2% · 1,870 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Painted Cave RoadCat 2 · 3.1 mi at 8.3% · 1,371 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- West Camino Cielo near GoletaCat 2 · 3.8 mi at 5.4% · 1,086 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- East Camino CieloCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.6% · 587 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- East Camino Cielo Road from East Camino CieloCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 5.4% · 778 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- East Camino Cielo Road from Arroyo Burro RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 6% · 860 ft · starts 4.8 mi away
- Tunnel Road from Mission Canyon RoadCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 7.9% · 945 ft · starts 4.9 mi away
- Gibraltar RoadHC · 6.5 mi at 7.7% · 2,664 ft · starts 5.9 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.