South Fork Drive Climb
- long (20.4 km)
- 13 mi
- long (20.4 km)
- of climbing (840 m)
- 2,756 ft
- of climbing (840 m)
- average grade
- 4.1%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.6%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 856 ft at the bottom to 3,612 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 South Fork Drive this week
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Is it safe to bike up South Fork Drive?
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: 1 bike crash was reported on or beside South Fork Drive along the climb from 2021–2025.
Common questions about South Fork Drive
- How long and steep is the South Fork Drive climb?
- 13 miles (20.4 km) at 4.1% on average, climbing 2,756 ft (840 m) from 856 ft to 3,612 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.6%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.43332, -118.90866, where South Fork Drive leaves Sierra Drive, and ends where the road ends at 36.35008, -118.76583.
- Is South Fork Drive paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 93% of the climb as paved, and the rest as dirt or gravel.
- 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
- Case Mountain RoadHC · 6.5 mi at 8.3% · 2,841 ft · starts 3.0 mi away
- Mineral King RoadHC · 25 mi at 5.1% · 6,650 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Whitney Creek Road near WoodlakeCat 3 · 1.6 mi at 7.2% · 617 ft · starts 4.6 mi away
- Whitney Creek Road near WoodlakeCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 4.5% · 617 ft · starts 4.6 mi away
- Generals Highway from Sierra DriveHC · 24 mi at 4.6% · 5,705 ft · starts 5.3 mi away
- Grouse Valley RoadCat 1 · dirt · 8.0 mi at 6.2% · 2,615 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
- Dry Creek DriveCat 1 · 15 mi at 3.1% · 2,464 ft · starts 6.7 mi away
- Davis SpurCat 3 · 2.5 mi at 4.8% · 627 ft · starts 8.0 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.