Sawmill Road Climb from Pidgeon Springs Road
- long (8.5 km)
- 5.3 mi
- long (8.5 km)
- of climbing (680 m)
- 2,231 ft
- of climbing (680 m)
- average grade
- 8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 4,029 ft at the bottom to 6,260 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 Sawmill Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Sawmill 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 Sawmill Road
- How long and steep is the Sawmill Road from Pidgeon Springs Road climb?
- 5.3 miles (8.5 km) at 8% on average, climbing 2,231 ft (680 m) from 4,029 ft to 6,260 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.3%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 33.57953, -116.44729, where Sawmill Road leaves Pidgeon Springs Road, and tops out on the road at 33.55006, -116.44277.
- Is Sawmill Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 100% 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
- Carrizo RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 5.2% · 735 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Santa Rosa Road from Pines To Palms HighwayHC · dirt · 12 mi at 5.6% · 3,704 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Pines To Palms Highway near Palm DesertHC · 23 mi at 3.9% · 4,793 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Morris Ranch RoadCat 3 · 3.6 mi at 5.1% · 971 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Burnt Valley RoadCat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.4% · 574 ft · starts 11 mi away
- Hill StreetCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 5.5% · 689 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Dunn RoadHC · dirt · 9.9 mi at 6.5% · 3,402 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Chapman RoadCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 4.9% · 581 ft · starts 13 mi away
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.