Sand Canyon Road Climb from Caliente Creek Road
- long (9.5 km)
- 5.9 mi
- long (9.5 km)
- of climbing (460 m)
- 1,509 ft
- of climbing (460 m)
- average grade
- 4.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 18.8%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,776 ft at the bottom to 4,285 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 Sand Canyon Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Sand 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: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Sand Canyon Road
- How long and steep is the Sand Canyon Road from Caliente Creek Road climb?
- 5.9 miles (9.5 km) at 4.8% on average, climbing 1,509 ft (460 m) from 2,776 ft to 4,285 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 18.8%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 35.30896, -118.41865, where Sand Canyon Road leaves Caliente Creek Road, and tops out on the road at 35.3818, -118.4126.
- Is Sand 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
- Saint Candor from Caliente Creek RoadCat 1 · 5.9 mi at 7.8% · 2,441 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Paradise Valley RoadCat 3 · 3.1 mi at 4.5% · 745 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Saint Candor near TehachapiCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 12.5% · 876 ft · starts 4.0 mi away
- Saint Candor near TehachapiCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 7.8% · 663 ft · starts 4.2 mi away
- Saint Candor near TehachapiCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 12.1% · 577 ft · starts 4.5 mi away
- Zachery RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 6.2% · 784 ft · starts 4.7 mi away
- Piute Mountain Road from Walker Basin RoadHC · dirt · 8.0 mi at 9.1% · 3,855 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Franceschi Mine RoadHC · dirt · 6.1 mi at 8.5% · 2,759 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 2: 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.