Telescope Peak Road Climb
- long (12.1 km)
- 7.5 mi
- long (12.1 km)
- of climbing (927 m)
- 3,041 ft
- of climbing (927 m)
- average grade
- 7.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 11.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 430 ft at the bottom to 3,471 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 Telescope Peak Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Telescope Peak 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 Telescope Peak Road
- How long and steep is the Telescope Peak Road climb?
- 7.5 miles (12.1 km) at 7.7% on average, climbing 3,041 ft (927 m) from 430 ft to 3,471 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 11.5%. That makes it a Hors catégorie climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 41.0252, -123.66148, where Telescope Peak Road leaves Shoemaker Road, and tops out on the road at 41.00603, -123.70742.
- Is Telescope Peak 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
- Bair Road from Pine Creek RoadHC · dirt · 8.3 mi at 6.8% · 2,986 ft · starts 2.0 mi away
- Horse RoadCat 1 · dirt · 5.4 mi at 8.6% · 2,451 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Redwood Grove RoadCat 2 · 2.1 mi at 10.4% · 1,184 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- Waterman Road from Spur LaneHC · 9.7 mi at 5.5% · 2,841 ft · starts 4.0 mi away
- Big Hill Road from Bigfoot Scenic BywayHC · 8.8 mi at 8.1% · 3,786 ft · starts 4.3 mi away
- Beebe Ranch RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 8% · 564 ft · starts 5.0 mi away
- Mill Creek Road near Blue LakeHC · 7.0 mi at 8.8% · 3,255 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Pine Creek Road near Blue LakeCat 3 · 2.2 mi at 6.3% · 738 ft · starts 5.2 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.