Whittaker Forest Road Climb
- long (13.6 km)
- 8.5 mi
- long (13.6 km)
- of climbing (775 m)
- 2,543 ft
- of climbing (775 m)
- average grade
- 5.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 8.7%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 3,025 ft at the bottom to 5,568 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 Whittaker Forest Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Whittaker Forest 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 Whittaker Forest Road
- How long and steep is the Whittaker Forest Road climb?
- 8.5 miles (13.6 km) at 5.7% on average, climbing 2,543 ft (775 m) from 3,025 ft to 5,568 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 8.7%. That makes it a Category 1 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 36.65608, -118.99242, and tops out at Wortman Mills Road at 36.69835, -118.93237.
- Is Whittaker Forest 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
- Eshom Valley Drive near WoodlakeCat 3 · 2.1 mi at 5.9% · 646 ft · starts 1.4 mi away
- Hogback Road from Hogback DriveCat 3 · 4.4 mi at 4.1% · 961 ft · starts 1.5 mi away
- Logger Point RoadCat 2 · 3.8 mi at 5.9% · 1,194 ft · starts 3.5 mi away
- Wildhog Canyon near WoodlakeCat 2 · 2.6 mi at 7.8% · 1,086 ft · starts 3.9 mi away
- Wildhog Canyon near WoodlakeCat 2 · 5.3 mi at 6.2% · 1,726 ft · starts 3.9 mi away
- Eshom Valley Drive near WoodlakeCat 2 · 5.8 mi at 4.8% · 1,450 ft · starts 4.0 mi away
- Generals Highway near Orange CoveCat 3 · 5.3 mi at 3.7% · 1,020 ft · starts 5.1 mi away
- Todd Eymann RoadCat 3 · 2.7 mi at 6.7% · 938 ft · starts 5.8 mi away
Found from OpenStreetMap roads and USGS 3DEP elevation; ranked on shape only. Category 1: 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.