Ponderosa Way Climb near Oroville
- long (6.2 km)
- 3.9 mi
- long (6.2 km)
- of climbing (404 m)
- 1,325 ft
- of climbing (404 m)
- average grade
- 6.5%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.8%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 961 ft at the bottom to 2,287 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 Ponderosa Way this week
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Is it safe to bike up Ponderosa Way?
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 Ponderosa Way
- How long and steep is the Ponderosa Way near Oroville climb?
- 3.9 miles (6.2 km) at 6.5% on average, climbing 1,325 ft (404 m) from 961 ft to 2,287 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.8%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.55008, -121.30844, and tops out at Lumpkin Road at 39.5764, -121.30225.
- Is Ponderosa Way paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 85% 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
- Sucker Run Road from Ponderosa WayCat 1 · dirt · 6.0 mi at 6.9% · 2,172 ft · starts 0.3 mi away
- Lumpkin Road from Enterprise BridgeCat 1 · 9.2 mi at 5.4% · 2,621 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Lumpkin Road near OrovilleCat 3 · 3.6 mi at 4.6% · 856 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Lower Forbestown RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 5.2% · 659 ft · starts 2.8 mi away
- Lake Haven WayCat 3 · 3.1 mi at 5.8% · 942 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Stringtown RoadCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 5.5% · 715 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- Sucker Run Road near OrovilleCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 6.2% · 656 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Island Bar Hill RoadCat 2 · 4.3 mi at 6.4% · 1,473 ft · starts 3.9 mi away
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.