Rat Trap Gap Road Climb from Tomhead Mountain Road
- long (20.3 km)
- 13 mi
- long (20.3 km)
- of climbing (862 m)
- 2,828 ft
- of climbing (862 m)
- average grade
- 4.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,110 ft at the bottom to 5,938 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 Rat Trap Gap Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Rat Trap Gap 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. Most of this climb is a dirt road, and falls away from public roads rarely reach police reports. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Rat Trap Gap Road
- How long and steep is the Rat Trap Gap Road from Tomhead Mountain Road climb?
- 13 miles (20.3 km) at 4.2% on average, climbing 2,828 ft (862 m) from 3,110 ft to 5,938 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.9%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 40.16914, -122.78846, where Rat Trap Gap Road leaves Tomhead Mountain Road, and tops out at Tedoc Gap Road at 40.20195, -122.92988.
- Is Rat Trap Gap Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 100% of the climb as dirt or gravel. Dirt roads can be closed in fire season or after rain, so check with the land manager.
- 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
- Tomhead Mountain RoadHC · dirt · 5.6 mi at 10% · 2,933 ft · starts 0.0 mi away
- Rat Trap Gap RoadCat 3 · 4.0 mi at 4.9% · 1,033 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Rat Trap Gap RoadCat 3 · 3.9 mi at 4.5% · 915 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Tedoc RoadCat 2 · 3.9 mi at 8.1% · 1,667 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Boswell Ridge RoadCat 1 · dirt · 6.3 mi at 7.1% · 2,356 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Colyer Springs RoadHC · dirt · 13 mi at 5.7% · 3,852 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Beegum Gorge RoadCat 2 · 3.1 mi at 8% · 1,296 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Raglin Ridge RoadHC · dirt · 12 mi at 7.7% · 4,790 ft · starts 13 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Hors catégorie: 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.