Sheephead Mountain Road Climb
- long (18.8 km)
- 12 mi
- long (18.8 km)
- of climbing (721 m)
- 2,365 ft
- of climbing (721 m)
- average grade
- 3.8%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 14.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,064 ft at the bottom to 5,430 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 Sheephead Mountain Road this week
Loading forecast…
Is it safe to bike up Sheephead Mountain 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 Sheephead Mountain Road
- How long and steep is the Sheephead Mountain Road climb?
- 12 miles (18.8 km) at 3.8% on average, climbing 2,365 ft (721 m) from 3,064 ft to 5,430 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 14.1%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 32.71462, -116.49823, where Sheephead Mountain Road leaves Buckman Springs Road, and tops out on the road at 32.82875, -116.47859.
- Is Sheephead Mountain Road paved?
- Mostly not: OpenStreetMap tags 66% 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
- Sunrise Highway from Old Highway 80HC · 15 mi at 3.5% · 2,815 ft · starts 1.6 mi away
- Kitchen Creek RoadHC · 11 mi at 4.4% · 2,644 ft · starts 1.7 mi away
- Los Pinos RoadCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 6.8% · 817 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Corral Canyon Road near San DiegoCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.8% · 607 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Pine Creek Road from Old Highway 80Cat 2 · 7.9 mi at 4.2% · 1,759 ft · starts 8.8 mi away
- Church RoadCat 3 · 4.6 mi at 3.4% · 817 ft · starts 9.1 mi away
- Potrero Valley RoadCat 3 · 3.7 mi at 3.7% · 719 ft · starts 9.3 mi away
- Shasta WayCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 4.8% · 571 ft · starts 9.6 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.