Silver Fork Road Climb near South Lake Tahoe
- long (5.7 km)
- 3.5 mi
- long (5.7 km)
- of climbing (251 m)
- 823 ft
- of climbing (251 m)
- average grade
- 4.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.4%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 5,548 ft at the bottom to 6,371 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 Silver Fork Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Silver Fork 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 Silver Fork Road
- How long and steep is the Silver Fork Road near South Lake Tahoe climb?
- 3.5 miles (5.7 km) at 4.4% on average, climbing 823 ft (251 m) from 5,548 ft to 6,371 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.4%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.69973, -120.20711, and tops out at Sherman Canyon Road at 38.66059, -120.21484.
- Is Silver Fork 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
- Silver Fork Road from Silver Fork Spur RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.4% · 554 ft · starts 2.3 mi away
- Long Canyon 4WD TrailCat 1 · dirt · 4.1 mi at 10.8% · 2,346 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Wrights Lake RoadCat 2 · 3.9 mi at 6.7% · 1,371 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
- Silver Fork Road near South Lake TahoeCat 2 · 6.3 mi at 3.9% · 1,319 ft · starts 6.9 mi away
- Packsaddle Pass RoadCat 2 · 5.4 mi at 5.3% · 1,512 ft · starts 7.0 mi away
- Strawberry 4WD TrailCat 1 · dirt · 5.5 mi at 7.6% · 2,234 ft · starts 7.0 mi away
- Light Canyon RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.6% · 581 ft · starts 7.4 mi away
- Alder Creek Road from Carpenter Creek RoadCat 2 · 4.6 mi at 5.2% · 1,273 ft · starts 7.6 mi away
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.