South Mountain Lookout Road Climb from Mountain Lookout Road
- long (1.5 km)
- 0.9 mi
- long (1.5 km)
- of climbing (171 m)
- 561 ft
- of climbing (171 m)
- average grade
- 11.3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 13.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 1,224 ft at the bottom to 1,785 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 Mountain Lookout Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up South Mountain Lookout 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 Mountain Lookout Road
- How long and steep is the South Mountain Lookout Road from Mountain Lookout Road climb?
- 0.9 miles (1.5 km) at 11.3% on average, climbing 561 ft (171 m) from 1,224 ft to 1,785 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 13.5%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 34.32419, -119.05492, where South Mountain Lookout Road leaves Mountain Lookout Road, and tops out on the road at 34.32143, -119.04941.
- Is South Mountain Lookout 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
- Lemon Lease RoadCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 11.3% · 702 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Morgan Canyon Road from Richardson Canyon RoadCat 2 · 3.3 mi at 6.8% · 1,165 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- South Mountain Lookout Road near Santa PaulaCat 3 · 1.9 mi at 9.3% · 948 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Fairweather CrossingCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 10.8% · 945 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Balcom Canyon RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 4.8% · 682 ft · starts 4.8 mi away
- Toland RoadCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 6.6% · 817 ft · starts 4.8 mi away
- Timber Canyon RoadCat 3 · 1.7 mi at 9.3% · 850 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Stockton RoadCat 3 · 3.0 mi at 3.3% · 528 ft · starts 6.3 mi away
Bike crash hotspots nearby
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.