Wrights Lake Road Climb
- long (6.2 km)
- 3.9 mi
- long (6.2 km)
- of climbing (418 m)
- 1,371 ft
- of climbing (418 m)
- average grade
- 6.7%
- average grade
- steepest 500 m
- 12.1%
- steepest 500 m
Elevation profile
From 5,394 ft at the bottom to 6,765 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 Wrights Lake Road this week
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Is it safe to bike up Wrights Lake 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 Wrights Lake Road
- How long and steep is the Wrights Lake Road climb?
- 3.9 miles (6.2 km) at 6.7% on average, climbing 1,371 ft (418 m) from 5,394 ft to 6,765 ft. The steepest half kilometre averages 12.1%. That makes it a Category 2 climb.
- Where does the climb start and finish?
- It starts at 38.7852, -120.21389, where Wrights Lake Road leaves Route 50, and tops out on the road at 38.80853, -120.23741.
- Is Wrights Lake 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
- Long Canyon 4WD TrailCat 1 · dirt · 4.1 mi at 10.8% · 2,346 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Packsaddle Pass RoadCat 2 · 5.4 mi at 5.3% · 1,512 ft · starts 3.3 mi away
- Silver Fork Road near South Lake TahoeCat 2 · 6.3 mi at 3.9% · 1,319 ft · starts 4.4 mi away
- Strawberry 4WD TrailCat 1 · dirt · 5.5 mi at 7.6% · 2,234 ft · starts 5.7 mi away
- Silver Fork Road near South Lake TahoeCat 3 · 3.5 mi at 4.4% · 823 ft · starts 5.9 mi away
- Carpenter Creek RoadCat 1 · dirt · 6.2 mi at 6.8% · 2,224 ft · starts 6.3 mi away
- Alder Creek Road from Carpenter Creek RoadCat 2 · 4.6 mi at 5.2% · 1,273 ft · starts 6.4 mi away
- Silver Fork Road from Silver Fork Spur RoadCat 3 · 2.4 mi at 4.4% · 554 ft · starts 8.0 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.