Parkfield Grade Climb
- long (14.5 km)
- 9.0 mi
- long (14.5 km)
- of climbing (722 m)
- 2,369 ft
- of climbing (722 m)
- average grade
- 5%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,145 ft at the bottom to 3,514 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 Parkfield Grade this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Parkfield Grade?
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 Parkfield Grade
- How long and steep is the Parkfield Grade climb?
- 9.0 miles (14.5 km) at 5% on average, climbing 2,369 ft (722 m) from 1,145 ft to 3,514 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.5%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.0854, -120.4786, and tops out at Parkfield-Coalinga Road at 35.99683, -120.47104.
- Is Parkfield Grade paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 79% of the climb as paved, and the rest as dirt or gravel.
- 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
- Warthan CanyonCat 3 · 4.9 mi at 3.2% · 827 ft · starts 7.2 mi away
- Smith Mountain Lookout RoadCat 2 · 4.9 mi at 7.6% · 1,982 ft · starts 8.8 mi away
- South Joaquin Ridge Lookout RoadHC · dirt · 9.8 mi at 5.5% · 2,848 ft · starts 9.1 mi away
- South San Joaquin Rocks Lookout RoadHC · dirt · 9.5 mi at 5.6% · 2,782 ft · starts 9.4 mi away
- Oil City RoadCat 2 · 6.0 mi at 3.9% · 1,243 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Vineyard Canyon RoadCat 2 · 6.0 mi at 3.4% · 1,070 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Parkfield-Coalinga RoadCat 2 · 9.6 mi at 4% · 2,008 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Derrick RoadCat 1 · 7.9 mi at 5.4% · 2,254 ft · starts 15 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 1: 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.