South Grade Road Climb from Arnold Way
- long (7.1 km)
- 4.4 mi
- long (7.1 km)
- of climbing (258 m)
- 846 ft
- of climbing (258 m)
- average grade
- 3.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 7.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,230 ft at the bottom to 2,077 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 Grade Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up South Grade 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 South Grade Road
- How long and steep is the South Grade Road from Arnold Way climb?
- 4.4 miles (7.1 km) at 3.7% on average, climbing 846 ft (258 m) from 1,230 ft to 2,077 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 7.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 32.84125, -116.80591, where South Grade Road leaves Arnold Way, and tops out at Ranco Sierra at 32.82621, -116.75719.
- Is South Grade 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
- Arnold WayCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 4.3% · 610 ft · starts 0.0 mi away
- Peutz Valley RoadCat 3 · 2.9 mi at 3.6% · 545 ft · starts 0.6 mi away
- Alpine BoulevardCat 2 · 8.6 mi at 3.2% · 1,470 ft · starts 1.3 mi away
- Mountain View Road from Frances DriveCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.9% · 630 ft · starts 2.0 mi away
- Montana SerenaCat 3 · 0.9 mi at 11.2% · 545 ft · starts 2.4 mi away
- Harbison Canyon RoadCat 3 · 3.6 mi at 3.6% · 689 ft · starts 3.8 mi away
- Olde Highway 80Cat 3 · 3.2 mi at 3.3% · 551 ft · starts 3.9 mi away
- Quail Canyon Road from Blossom Springs RoadCat 3 · 2.6 mi at 5.3% · 735 ft · starts 4.2 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.