Sonora Pass Highway Climb
- long (27.5 km)
- 17 mi
- long (27.5 km)
- of climbing (1,214 m)
- 3,983 ft
- of climbing (1,214 m)
- average grade
- 4.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 14.2%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 5,659 ft at the bottom to 9,642 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 Sonora Pass Highway this week
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Is it safe to bike up Sonora Pass Highway?
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 Sonora Pass Highway
- How long and steep is the Sonora Pass Highway climb?
- 17 miles (27.5 km) at 4.4% on average, climbing 3,983 ft (1,214 m) from 5,659 ft to 9,642 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 14.2%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.35524, -119.87798, where Sonora Pass Highway leaves State Highway 108, and tops out at Sonora Pass at 38.32818, -119.63728.
- Is Sonora Pass Highway 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
- State Highway 108 from Clark Fork RoadCat 3 · 4.8 mi at 3.4% · 860 ft · starts 0.0 mi away
- State Highway 108Cat 3 · 3.0 mi at 3.3% · 531 ft · starts 6.5 mi away
- Spicer Reservoir RoadCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 4.2% · 568 ft · starts 7.1 mi away
- Spicer Reservoir RoadCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 3.6% · 581 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Spicer Reservoir RoadCat 3 · 4.6 mi at 3% · 741 ft · starts 10 mi away
- Hells Half Acre RoadCat 1 · dirt · 7.5 mi at 5.5% · 2,201 ft · starts 12 mi away
- State Highway 108 from Sonora Pass HighwayCat 3 · 2.8 mi at 4.7% · 692 ft · starts 13 mi away
- Skyline Drive from Highway 4Cat 3 · 2.0 mi at 5.9% · 633 ft · starts 13 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Hors catégorie: 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.