Old La Honda Road Climb from Portola Road
- long (5.3 km)
- 3.3 mi
- long (5.3 km)
- of climbing (395 m)
- 1,296 ft
- of climbing (395 m)
- average grade
- 7.5%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 394 ft at the bottom to 1,690 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 Old La Honda Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Old La Honda 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 Old La Honda Road
- How long and steep is the Old La Honda Road from Portola Road climb?
- 3.3 miles (5.3 km) at 7.5% on average, climbing 1,296 ft (395 m) from 394 ft to 1,690 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.39594, -122.24647, where Old La Honda Road leaves Portola Road, and tops out at Skyline Boulevard at 37.37191, -122.25256.
- Is Old La Honda 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
- Skyline Boulevard from La Honda RoadCat 3 · 4.4 mi at 3.7% · 866 ft · starts 1.2 mi away
- Kings Mountain RoadCat 2 · 4.9 mi at 6.4% · 1,654 ft · starts 2.5 mi away
- Old La Honda Road from La Honda RoadCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 4.4% · 581 ft · starts 2.9 mi away
- Alpine Road near Portola ValleyCat 2 · 6.3 mi at 3.6% · 1,188 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- Los Trancos RoadCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.2% · 574 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Bear Gulch RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 6.9% · 971 ft · starts 4.0 mi away
- Woodside RoadCat 2 · 8.1 mi at 3.3% · 1,401 ft · starts 4.0 mi away
- Vista Verde WayCat 3 · 1.1 mi at 10.5% · 600 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
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.