Old Waterman Canyon Road Climb
- long (4.9 km)
- 3.0 mi
- long (4.9 km)
- of climbing (413 m)
- 1,355 ft
- of climbing (413 m)
- average grade
- 8.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,801 ft at the bottom to 3,156 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 Waterman Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Old Waterman Canyon 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: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside Old Waterman Canyon Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal (1 fatal).
Common questions about Old Waterman Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Old Waterman Canyon Road climb?
- 3.0 miles (4.9 km) at 8.4% on average, climbing 1,355 ft (413 m) from 1,801 ft to 3,156 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.7%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.18249, -117.27396, where Old Waterman Canyon Road leaves Rim of the World Highway, and tops out at Dale Lane at 34.21853, -117.29258.
- Is Old Waterman Canyon 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
- Rim of the World Highway from North Waterman Avenue near San BernardinoHC · 22 mi at 4.4% · 4,997 ft · starts 1.2 mi away
- North Road from Lake Gregory Drive near San BernardinoCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6.7% · 614 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- North Road from Lake Gregory Drive near San BernardinoCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.3% · 568 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Lake Gregory DriveCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 5.2% · 591 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Arosa DriveCat 3 · 1.1 mi at 9.9% · 600 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
- Rim of the World Highway from North Waterman Avenue near San BernardinoHC · 13 mi at 4.8% · 3,297 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
- Bailey Canyon Road from Palm AvenueHC · dirt · 8.9 mi at 8.2% · 3,852 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Steve Faris Memorial HighwayHC · 24 mi at 4.3% · 5,456 ft · starts 5.5 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.