Poway Road Climb
- long (9.8 km)
- 6.1 mi
- long (9.8 km)
- of climbing (361 m)
- 1,184 ft
- of climbing (361 m)
- average grade
- 3.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 440 ft at the bottom to 1,624 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 Poway Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Poway 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. The records here are also incomplete: most reports along it are filed under San Diego, where only 2% of reported bike crashes have a map location, so the numbers here are too low. What the records show: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside Poway Road along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Poway Road
- How long and steep is the Poway Road climb?
- 6.1 miles (9.8 km) at 3.7% on average, climbing 1,184 ft (361 m) from 440 ft to 1,624 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.1%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 32.9516, -117.06504, and tops out at Lucidi Farms Way at 32.97819, -116.97569.
- Is Poway 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
- Beeler Canyon RoadCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 3.4% · 630 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Scripps Poway ParkwayCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 7.1% · 686 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Highland Valley RoadCat 2 · 5.4 mi at 4.6% · 1,309 ft · starts 7.8 mi away
- Route 67Cat 3 · 4.3 mi at 4.3% · 971 ft · starts 7.9 mi away
- Lake Vicente DriveCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 7.3% · 548 ft · starts 9.5 mi away
- Wildcat Canyon Road from Willow RoadCat 2 · 4.0 mi at 5.3% · 1,122 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Rockwood RoadCat 2 · 3.5 mi at 6.7% · 1,230 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Crestwind DriveCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 10.7% · 531 ft · starts 11 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.