Sandia Creek Drive Climb from Rock Mountain Drive
- long (4.0 km)
- 2.5 mi
- long (4.0 km)
- of climbing (201 m)
- 659 ft
- of climbing (201 m)
- average grade
- 5%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 351 ft at the bottom to 1,010 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 Sandia Creek Drive this week
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Is it safe to bike up Sandia Creek Drive?
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 Sandia Creek Drive
- How long and steep is the Sandia Creek Drive from Rock Mountain Drive climb?
- 2.5 miles (4.0 km) at 5% on average, climbing 659 ft (201 m) from 351 ft to 1,010 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.7%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 33.4153, -117.24515, where Sandia Creek Drive leaves Rock Mountain Drive, and tops out on the road at 33.44653, -117.24607.
- Is Sandia Creek Drive 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 Mountain DriveCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 5.2% · 784 ft · starts 0.2 mi away
- Gavilan Mountain RoadCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 7% · 568 ft · starts 0.6 mi away
- De Luz Heights RoadCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 8.4% · 827 ft · starts 0.8 mi away
- De Luz Road near TemeculaCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.9% · 584 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Vista del RioCat 3 · 1.5 mi at 7% · 564 ft · starts 2.0 mi away
- Sandia Creek Drive near TemeculaCat 3 · 5.0 mi at 3.4% · 889 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Daily DriveCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 6.9% · 577 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Daily RoadCat 3 · 4.0 mi at 3.4% · 719 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
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.