Upper Shotgun Road Climb from Mears Creek Road
- long (3.4 km)
- 2.1 mi
- long (3.4 km)
- of climbing (203 m)
- 666 ft
- of climbing (203 m)
- average grade
- 5.9%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 9.3%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,697 ft at the bottom to 3,363 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 Upper Shotgun Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Upper Shotgun 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 Upper Shotgun Road
- How long and steep is the Upper Shotgun Road from Mears Creek Road climb?
- 2.1 miles (3.4 km) at 5.9% on average, climbing 666 ft (203 m) from 2,697 ft to 3,363 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 9.3%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 41.06893, -122.37858, where Upper Shotgun Road leaves Mears Creek Road, and tops out on the road at 41.07698, -122.40161.
- Is Upper Shotgun 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
- Upper Shotgun Road from Shotgun RoadCat 2 · 3.8 mi at 7.2% · 1,440 ft · starts 0.5 mi away
- Mears Ridge RoadCat 2 · 3.4 mi at 6.9% · 1,234 ft · starts 0.8 mi away
- Mears Creek RoadCat 3 · 1.4 mi at 8.6% · 633 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Fat Bear RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 9.2% · 646 ft · starts 1.0 mi away
- Girard Ridge Road from Hazel Creek RoadHC · 8.7 mi at 7% · 3,241 ft · starts 1.1 mi away
- Hazel Creek Road near DunsmuirCat 2 · 6.9 mi at 3.9% · 1,417 ft · starts 1.1 mi away
- Flume Creek Road near DunsmuirCat 2 · 3.7 mi at 7.1% · 1,398 ft · starts 2.5 mi away
- Bonville Springs RoadCat 3 · 1.3 mi at 8% · 531 ft · starts 2.7 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.