Cat 3 climb · Paved

San Joaquin Hills Road Climb from Park Newport Drive

From Park Newport Drive. Tops out at Newport Ridge Drive West. Near Newport Beach.
long (5.3 km)
3.3 mi
long (5.3 km)
of climbing (163 m)
535 ft
of climbing (163 m)
average grade
3.1%
average grade
steepest 500 m
7.2%
steepest 500 m

Elevation profile

926271 mi2 mi0
Grade per 500 m:under 3%3–5%5–7%7–9%9–12%12% and up

From 92 ft at the bottom to 627 ft at the top. Grades are averaged over each half kilometre, from USGS elevation data, so short ramps can be steeper than they show.

Map of the San Joaquin Hills Road from Park Newport Drive climb
S: bottom, E: top. Map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap.

Weather at the top of San Joaquin Hills Road this week

Weather

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Is it safe to bike up San Joaquin Hills 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: 6 bike crashes were reported on or beside San Joaquin Hills Road along the climb from 2021–2025, 1 of them serious or fatal. The most were at Jamboree Rd & San Joaquin Hills Rd (3).

Where bike crashes cluster on San Joaquin Hills Road

  1. 3 crashes · 1 serious or fatal

    Jamboree Rd & San Joaquin Hills Rd

    A mix of crash types

    Traffic is posted at about 55 mph.

    See it on the map

Common questions about San Joaquin Hills Road

How long and steep is the San Joaquin Hills Road from Park Newport Drive climb?
3.3 miles (5.3 km) at 3.1% on average, climbing 535 ft (163 m) from 92 ft to 627 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.2%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
Where does the climb start and finish?
It starts at 33.62521, -117.88224, where San Joaquin Hills Road leaves Park Newport Drive, and tops out at Newport Ridge Drive West at 33.60695, -117.83589.
Is San Joaquin Hills 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

Places to ride to nearby

Bike crash hotspots 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.