Upper Whittlesey Lane Climb
- long (2.7 km)
- 1.7 mi
- long (2.7 km)
- of climbing (174 m)
- 571 ft
- of climbing (174 m)
- average grade
- 6.4%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.5%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 2,270 ft at the bottom to 2,841 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 Whittlesey Lane this week
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Is it safe to bike up Upper Whittlesey Lane?
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 Whittlesey Lane
- How long and steep is the Upper Whittlesey Lane climb?
- 1.7 miles (2.7 km) at 6.4% on average, climbing 571 ft (174 m) from 2,270 ft to 2,841 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.5%. That makes it a Category 3 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 39.35501, -121.05408, where Upper Whittlesey Lane leaves Whittlesey Lane, and ends at a gate at 39.35357, -121.03335.
- Is Upper Whittlesey Lane paved?
- Mostly: OpenStreetMap tags 64% of the climb as paved, and the rest as dirt or gravel.
- 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
- Jungle TrailCat 3 · 0.5 mi at 22.9% · 640 ft · starts 2.6 mi away
- Moonshine RoadCat 3 · 4.1 mi at 3.9% · 846 ft · starts 2.9 mi away
- Hoyt Crossing RoadCat 3 · 1.0 mi at 10.4% · 564 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- State Highway 49 from Moonshine RoadCat 3 · 3.2 mi at 4% · 679 ft · starts 3.2 mi away
- Tyler Foote Crossing RoadCat 2 · 9.3 mi at 3.1% · 1,506 ft · starts 3.6 mi away
- North Bloomfield-Graniteville Road near Nevada CityCat 2 · 2.5 mi at 8.9% · 1,161 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- Ridge Road from Celestial Valley RoadHC · 14 mi at 4.4% · 3,176 ft · starts 4.1 mi away
- State Highway 49 near Nevada CityCat 3 · 1.8 mi at 6.4% · 607 ft · starts 4.4 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.