Stepladder Road Climb from San Simeon Creek Road
- long (3.9 km)
- 2.4 mi
- long (3.9 km)
- of climbing (405 m)
- 1,329 ft
- of climbing (405 m)
- average grade
- 10.3%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 328 ft at the bottom to 1,657 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 Stepladder Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Stepladder 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 Stepladder Road
- How long and steep is the Stepladder Road from San Simeon Creek Road climb?
- 2.4 miles (3.9 km) at 10.3% on average, climbing 1,329 ft (405 m) from 328 ft to 1,657 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.7%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 35.62549, -121.05449, where Stepladder Road leaves San Simeon Creek Road, and tops out on the road at 35.61539, -121.03952.
- Is Stepladder 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
- Stepladder Road near Morro BayCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 10% · 614 ft · starts 0.9 mi away
- San Simeon Creek RoadCat 2 · 6.6 mi at 4.7% · 1,627 ft · starts 3.1 mi away
- Noel WayCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 6.4% · 699 ft · starts 3.4 mi away
- Monte Cristo PlaceCat 3 · 2.3 mi at 4.4% · 525 ft · starts 6.1 mi away
- Green Valley Road near Morro BayCat 2 · 4.3 mi at 6% · 1,378 ft · starts 7.6 mi away
- Arroyo del MarCat 3 · 1.2 mi at 10.4% · 656 ft · starts 8.7 mi away
- Bryson Hesperia RoadCat 3 · 3.7 mi at 3.6% · 702 ft · starts 12 mi away
- Santa Rosa Creek RoadCat 3 · 2.9 mi at 3.5% · 535 ft · starts 12 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 2: 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.