Palomares Road Climb from Niles Canyon Road
- long (7.1 km)
- 4.4 mi
- long (7.1 km)
- of climbing (311 m)
- 1,020 ft
- of climbing (311 m)
- average grade
- 4.3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 154 ft at the bottom to 1,175 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 Palomares Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Palomares 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 Palomares Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal.
Common questions about Palomares Road
- How long and steep is the Palomares Road from Niles Canyon Road climb?
- 4.4 miles (7.1 km) at 4.3% on average, climbing 1,020 ft (311 m) from 154 ft to 1,175 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 37.59784, -121.94686, where Palomares Road leaves Niles Canyon Road, and tops out on the road at 37.64397, -121.96927.
- Is Palomares 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
- Utility Service RoadCat 2 · 1.6 mi at 15.9% · 1,345 ft · starts 1.3 mi away
- Morrison Canyon RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 7.9% · 915 ft · starts 2.3 mi away
- Kilkare RoadCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 3.5% · 643 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Castlewood DriveCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 6.9% · 778 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- Mill Creek Road from Mission BoulevardCat 2 · 4.3 mi at 6.1% · 1,362 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
- Vallecitos RoadCat 3 · 2.9 mi at 3.7% · 568 ft · starts 4.9 mi away
- Peak TrailCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 10.7% · 915 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Welch Creek RoadCat 1 · 7.2 mi at 6.5% · 2,503 ft · starts 6.7 mi away
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.