Mulholland Highway (incl. "The Snake")
- mapped
- 35.5 mi
- mapped
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- 67
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- serious or fatal
- 15
- serious or fatal
- fatal
- 5
- fatal
Is Mulholland Highway open today?
Not a state route, so Caltrans doesn’t list it. No LA County closures listed.
Checked Sat, Nov 14, 2:08 PM Pacific. These lists don't include every closure: Forest Service gates and fire closures can be missing. All riding roads this week.
Is Mulholland Highway safe to ride on a motorcycle?
We don't rate roads as safe or unsafe: crash counts can't say how risky a road is, and popular riding roads have more crashes partly because more people ride them. What the records show: 67 motorcycle crashes were reported along its 35.5 mapped miles from 2021–2025, 15 of them serious or fatal (5 fatal). 49% involved no other vehicle. What to watch for: Crowded with riders, cyclists and spectators on weekends. Blind corners with oncoming riders crossing the centre line, and gravel washed onto the road after rain.
This week's weather
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Motorcycle crashes and deaths on Mulholland Highway
67 motorcycle crashes were reported within 60 m of the road from 2021–2025: 15 killed or seriously injured someone, and 5 were fatal. 49% involved no other vehicle. Busier roads have more crashes partly because more people ride them, so these counts don't say how risky the road is.
Bends, straights and junctions
Outside city limits, 59 motorcycle crashes were reported on Mulholland Highway from 2021–2026, 17 of them within 40 m of a junction. Of the other 42, 35 (83%) were in bends tighter than a 100 m radius, which make up 47% of the road. So crashes gather in the bends, more than their share of the road. 23 of the 31 crashes with no other vehicle were in bends.
A crash alone in a bend usually means running wide or losing grip: set your speed before the bend, look through it, and expect gravel, sand or diesel mid-corner.
Crashes with another vehicle in bends are often an oncoming car across the centre line: keep away from the centre line in blind bends.
The bends with the most crashes
- 5 crashes in one bend: 3 with no other vehicle, 3 of 4 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 39 m.
- 4 crashes in one bend: 3 with no other vehicle, 1 of 3 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 50 m.
- 4 crashes in one bend: 2 with no other vehicle, 1 of 4 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 52 m.
How we tell bends from straights, and every riding road compared
Places along the way
Camping near Mulholland Highway
Campgrounds and RV parks within about 5 miles of the road (straight line), nearest first. Seasons, fire restrictions and closures change, so check with whoever runs it before you go.
- Camp Bloomfield359 ft · on the roadOn the map
- Camp Summertime1,685 ft · 0.1 mi from the roadOn the mapWebsite
- Malibu Creek Campground604 ft · 0.6 mi from the road · toilets, showers, feeOn the mapWebsite
- Malibu Creek Group Camp SiteRV park · 635 ft · 0.8 mi from the road · toilets, showers, feeOn the mapWebsite
- Circle X Ranch Group CampgroundGroup campground · National Park Service · 1 site · 1,594 ft · 2 mi from the road · feeOn the mapReserve
- Musch Hike-In Camp1,320 ft · 4.2 mi from the road · feeOn the mapWebsite
Campgrounds from Recreation.gov (federal campgrounds, 2026-10-18) and OpenStreetMap (2026-09-28); water, toilets and showers only where they're listed. Elevation from USGS.
Rides that use this road
Common questions about Mulholland Highway
- What is Mulholland Highway like to ride?
- Famous Santa Monica Mountains canyon road, busiest on weekend mornings.
- How long is Mulholland Highway?
- About 35.5 miles as mapped in OpenStreetMap, for the stretch we cover.
- Is Mulholland Highway open today?
- As of Sat, Nov 14, 2:08 PM Pacific, no LA County closures are listed on it today. These lists don't include every closure (Forest Service gates and fire closures can be missing), so check Caltrans QuickMap before you go.
Other riding roads nearby
Crashes: motorcycle crashes reported within 60 m of the road, 2021–2025, from the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS). Road: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Weather: National Weather Service. Distances to other roads are between their middles, in a straight line. How the data works.