San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39)
- mapped
- 28.9 mi
- mapped
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- 140
- motorcycle crashes, 2021–2025
- serious or fatal
- 49
- serious or fatal
- fatal
- 7
- fatal
Is San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39) open today?
No Caltrans closures listed.
Checked Sat, Nov 14, 2:16 PM Pacific. These lists don't include every closure: Forest Service gates and fire closures can be missing. All riding roads this week.
Is San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39) 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: 140 motorcycle crashes were reported along its 28.9 mapped miles from 2021–2025, 49 of them serious or fatal (7 fatal). 73% involved no other vehicle. What to watch for: Heavy weekend traffic to the river, cars parked along the shoulder, and rockfall.
This week's weather
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Motorcycle crashes and deaths on San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39)
140 motorcycle crashes were reported within 60 m of the road from 2021–2025: 49 killed or seriously injured someone, and 7 were fatal. 73% 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, 155 motorcycle crashes were reported on San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39) from 2021–2026, 4 of them within 40 m of a junction. Of the other 151, 138 (91%) were in bends tighter than a 100 m radius, which make up 56% of the road. So crashes gather in the bends, more than their share of the road. 106 of the 114 crashes with no other vehicle were in bends. Of the 99 crashes on a grade of 3% or more where the rider's direction is known, 60 were going downhill, though both directions carry about the same traffic.
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.
Going down, speed builds before the bend: brake earlier on the descent than you would on the way up.
The bends with the most crashes
- 12 crashes in one bend: 11 with no other vehicle, 7 of 12 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 37 m.
- 11 crashes in one bend: 11 with no other vehicle, 11 of 11 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 29 m.
- 8 crashes in one bend: 3 with no other vehicle, 2 of 8 on the grade going downhill; tightest radius about 26 m.
How we tell bends from straights, and every riding road compared
Places along the way
Camping near San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39)
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.
- ColdbrookForest Service · 3,342 ft · 0.2 mi from the roadOn the mapRecreation.gov
- Crystal Lake Recreation AreaForest Service · 5,760 ft · 0.6 mi from the roadOn the map
- Crystal Lake CampgroundForest Service · 131 sites · 5,747 ft · 0.8 mi from the roadOn the mapReserve
- Lower Bear Cyn1,820 ft · 1 mi from the roadOn the map
- Deer SpringGroup campground · Forest Service · 1 site · 6,346 ft · 1.3 mi from the roadOn the mapReserve
- Little Jimmy CampgroundForest Service · 7,539 ft · 2.3 mi from the roadOn the map
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 San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39)
- What is San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39) like to ride?
- Canyon road from Azusa up the San Gabriel River toward Crystal Lake.
- How long is San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39)?
- About 28.9 miles as mapped in OpenStreetMap, for the stretch we cover.
- Is San Gabriel Canyon Road (SR-39) open today?
- As of Sat, Nov 14, 2:16 PM Pacific, no Caltrans or 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.