Santa Clara Divide Road Climb
- long (12.1 km)
- 7.5 mi
- long (12.1 km)
- of climbing (745 m)
- 2,444 ft
- of climbing (745 m)
- average grade
- 6.2%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.2%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,424 ft at the bottom to 3,868 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 Santa Clara Divide Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Santa Clara Divide 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. Most of this climb is a dirt road, and falls away from public roads rarely reach police reports. What the records show: no bike crashes were reported along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about Santa Clara Divide Road
- How long and steep is the Santa Clara Divide Road climb?
- 7.5 miles (12.1 km) at 6.2% on average, climbing 2,444 ft (745 m) from 1,424 ft to 3,868 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.2%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.36508, -118.50047, where Santa Clara Divide Road leaves The Beast, and tops out at Santa Clara Truck Trail at 34.35278, -118.41112.
- Is Santa Clara Divide Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 77% of the climb as dirt or gravel. Dirt roads can be closed in fire season or after rain, so check with the land manager.
- 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
- Golden Valley RoadCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.7% · 604 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- May Canyon RoadCat 2 · 4.8 mi at 7.8% · 1,998 ft · starts 5.2 mi away
- Sand Canyon Road from Lost Canyon RoadCat 2 · 5.7 mi at 3.9% · 1,171 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
- Santa Clara Truck Trail from Sand Canyon Road near San FernandoCat 2 · 3.7 mi at 5.8% · 1,138 ft · starts 6.1 mi away
- Santa Clara Truck Trail from Sand Canyon Road near San FernandoCat 2 · 6.9 mi at 5.2% · 1,909 ft · starts 6.2 mi away
- Little Tujunga Canyon Road near San FernandoCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.8% · 640 ft · starts 7.2 mi away
- Oat Mountain MotorwayCat 2 · 2.3 mi at 10.9% · 1,293 ft · starts 7.2 mi away
- Little Tujunga Canyon Road near San FernandoCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 5.4% · 666 ft · starts 7.3 mi away
Bike crash hotspots nearby
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 1: 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.