Red Mountain Motorway Climb
- long (14.3 km)
- 8.9 mi
- long (14.3 km)
- of climbing (756 m)
- 2,480 ft
- of climbing (756 m)
- average grade
- 5.3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 10.9%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,041 ft at the bottom to 5,522 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 Red Mountain Motorway this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Red Mountain Motorway?
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 Red Mountain Motorway
- How long and steep is the Red Mountain Motorway climb?
- 8.9 miles (14.3 km) at 5.3% on average, climbing 2,480 ft (756 m) from 3,041 ft to 5,522 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 10.9%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 40.39289, -123.22318, and tops out on the road at 40.33879, -123.13373.
- Is Red Mountain Motorway 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
- Bramlot RoadCat 3 · 3.6 mi at 4% · 751 ft · starts 2.9 mi away
- Bramlot Road from Post Creek RoadCat 2 · 5.7 mi at 4.1% · 1,227 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Moores RoadHC · dirt · 8.2 mi at 6.9% · 2,992 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Rattlesnake Ridge Road from Hell Gate Campground RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.2 mi at 5.5% · 2,359 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Wildwood-Mad River RoadCat 2 · 8.3 mi at 3.5% · 1,506 ft · starts 8.1 mi away
- Cold Creek RoadCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 5.5% · 928 ft · starts 8.5 mi away
- White Mountain Road from Mad River RoadCat 3 · 1.0 mi at 13.3% · 673 ft · starts 9.1 mi away
- Terral RoadCat 2 · 1.8 mi at 13.5% · 1,257 ft · starts 9.4 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.