Rice Canyon Road Climb from Pala Road
- long (5.3 km)
- 3.3 mi
- long (5.3 km)
- of climbing (223 m)
- 732 ft
- of climbing (223 m)
- average grade
- 4.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 299 ft at the bottom to 1,030 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 Rice Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Rice Canyon 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. What the records show: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside Rice Canyon Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal.
Common questions about Rice Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Rice Canyon Road from Pala Road climb?
- 3.3 miles (5.3 km) at 4.2% on average, climbing 732 ft (223 m) from 299 ft to 1,030 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.1%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 33.34381, -117.13382, where Rice Canyon Road leaves Pala Road, and tops out at Rancho Bavaria at 33.38867, -117.14094.
- Is Rice Canyon 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
- Couser Canyon RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 4.9% · 866 ft · starts 0.7 mi away
- Huntley RoadCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 9.6% · 633 ft · starts 1.2 mi away
- Old Highway 395 from Pala Mesa DriveCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 3.1% · 538 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Pala Mesa Mountain DriveCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 11.8% · 574 ft · starts 1.6 mi away
- Pala del Norte RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 12.4% · 896 ft · starts 2.2 mi away
- Old Highway 395 from Dulin RoadCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.9% · 640 ft · starts 2.3 mi away
- Stewart Crest RoadCat 3 · 0.6 mi at 17.6% · 528 ft · starts 2.7 mi away
- Lilac RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 7.3% · 846 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 3: 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.