Rock Creek Road Climb from Unnecessary Trail near Placerville
- long (2.9 km)
- 1.8 mi
- long (2.9 km)
- of climbing (164 m)
- 538 ft
- of climbing (164 m)
- average grade
- 5.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,789 ft at the bottom to 3,327 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 Rock Creek Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Rock Creek 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: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Rock Creek Road
- How long and steep is the Rock Creek Road from Unnecessary Trail near Placerville climb?
- 1.8 miles (2.9 km) at 5.7% on average, climbing 538 ft (164 m) from 2,789 ft to 3,327 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.1%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.91359, -120.73886, where Rock Creek Road leaves Unnecessary Trail, and tops out at Our Place at 38.93244, -120.7432.
- Is Rock Creek 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
- Rock Creek Road from Unnecessary Trail near PlacervilleCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 6% · 538 ft · starts 0.1 mi away
- Wentworth Springs Road from Stag LaneCat 2 · 8.0 mi at 3.7% · 1,552 ft · starts 1.9 mi away
- Bald Mountain Lookout RoadCat 2 · 3.4 mi at 6.1% · 1,076 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Breedlove RoadCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.5% · 535 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Grey Eagle RoadCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 5.1% · 702 ft · starts 3.7 mi away
- Bottle Hill RoadCat 3 · 3.4 mi at 3.2% · 564 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
- Shoemaker RoadCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 5.7% · 620 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Darling Ridge RoadCat 2 · 5.8 mi at 3.9% · 1,198 ft · starts 5.2 mi away
Places to ride to nearby
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.