Southern California - longer climbs in OC/south OC

Where can I get some decent, sustained climbing in OC (Irvine, HB), other than Santiago Canyon and the other small rollers in the area?

How long does it need to be to qualify as "sustained"?

Newport Coast
any of the hills in Laguna Beach
Pacific Island Drive

Grab a mountain bike and do Holy Jim. not much on the road.

what about trabuco canyon or el toro?

Silverado is about a 20-22 minute, 5 mile climb. Keep going past the gate, up Maple Springs and go for another 3 miles, and additional 25 minutes. That's the only 45 minutw climb I've found in OC.

There's a very decent climb starting from Back Bay, then turn up San Juaquin Hills and climb all the way up to Newport Coast, then up Ridge Park or Vista Ridge once you hit Newport Coast (right turn onto Ridge Park).

There is also Antonio Parkway, a 10 mile climb (with 2 short descents) from Ortega Highway all the way up to Santa Margarita. Then right on Santa Margarita, left on Trabuco / Live Oak, down the switch-backs and up the Live Oak climb over to Santiago Canyon.

Rick / OCRR

Ortega Highway comes to mind. But its a bit suicidal with all the commuter traffic and some tight turns in various areas. Not much else I can think of here in flat OC.

If you just want the occasional long climb, I'd suggest taking your bike out to the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, or San Jacinto Mountains for some long uphill grinds.

How long does it need to be to qualify as "sustained"?

~20+ minutes


Silverado is about a 20-22 minute, 5 mile climb. Keep going past the gate, up Maple Springs and go for another 3 miles, and additional 25 minutes. That's the only 45 minutw climb I've found in OC.

Where's this?

It's a couple miles south of Irvine Lake on Santiago Cyn. Rd.

Start at Campus and University, go right on Culver (there is a trail on the far side near the sound wall), Left on Shady Canyon. To go through the gated community, you have to go on the trail and stay on the trail. Once you go through you have a straight shot downhill. I recommend going down with traffic and not on the trail.

For an alternate/harder (for me it is harder) same start point but keep going on Campus and then go left on Turtle Rock. When you are at the top, you can go down Ridgeline or continue around to Sunnyhill and then go up Shady Canyon.

From my office to home, the first route takes me about an hour, it also has taken me about an hour climbing Turtle Rock and going down Ridgeline. So I figure somewhere about 20-30/35 minutes for me of climbing. YMMV.

Silverado is about a 20-22 minute, 5 mile climb. Keep going past the gate, up Maple Springs and go for another 3 miles, and additional 25 minutes. That's the only 45 minutw climb I've found in OC.

+1, the best long sustained climb in OC. With 12% pitches towards the end it tops out at 3,000 feet where the pavement ends.

+1, the best long sustained climb in OC. With 12% pitches towards the end it tops out at 3,000 feet where the pavement ends.

I think Silverado gets overlooked quite a bit. I think most people don't realize you can keep riding past the gate and up Maple Springs. Last Sunday I started Como and then turned off and did this, I was spent at the end of day.

turtle rock's nothin'.

As mentioned earlier, San Joaquin Hills (from Newport Back Bay) to the top finished with either Ridge Park or Vista Ridge. Alternatively, you can take:

Newport Coast (from Bonita Canyon side) OR Newport Coast (from PCH) OR Newport Coast-Pelican Hill OR Spyglass Hill-El Capitan-Newport Ridge Dr

and then follow it up with either Ridge Park or Vista Ridge.

PID is shorter than Newport Coast but it is steeper, especially from the inside. Beware of the weird asphalt ripple if you desend going towards the ocean (bike shimmy at 45+ is bad).

Shorter little nasties in that area include: Cove Road (Dana Point Harbor), Niguel Road (from Crown Valley) and maybe Stonehill (from Del Obispo).

I think Silverado gets overlooked quite a bit. I think most people don't realize you can keep riding past the gate and up Maple Springs. Last Sunday I started Como and then turned off and did this, I was spent at the end of day.

Pat...I didn't realize that. Is it paved? Details please! The last time I did Silverado was Christmas Day on the back of the tandem in the pouring rain. It was getting dark as we reached the top and it wasn't so fun on the freezing descent! I like that climb though, but I've always turned around at the gate.

turtle rock's nothin'.

to my humble abilities, that is a pain in the arse....:p

I had wanted to do Santiago Canyon before July, but after going up Turtle Rock on the way home once, I have decided that goal was a little too ambitious. :thumb:

The Irvine portion of Portola is a good one going up to the toll road. Right?

Pat...I didn't realize that. Is it paved? Details please! The last time I did Silverado was Christmas Day on the back of the tandem in the pouring rain. It was getting dark as we reached the top and it wasn't so fun on the freezing descent! I like that climb though, but I've always turned around at the gate.


Yes, it's paved for about 3 miles after the gate. There's another 3 miles of relatively smooth fireroad after that. The canyon makes the road appear flatter than it is, but it is actually quite steep. It pitches up to 12% in many places. My friend and I take cyclocross bikes and ride up to 4 corners (main divide) all the time.... nice sustained 11 mile climb leaving from the tree lot off blackstar/silverado.

Pat...I didn't realize that. Is it paved? Details please! The last time I did Silverado was Christmas Day on the back of the tandem in the pouring rain. It was getting dark as we reached the top and it wasn't so fun on the freezing descent! I like that climb though, but I've always turned around at the gate.

What "WU" said. It's paved for 3 miles, although it's not the greatest road surface, it's far from the worst. You will go through several stream crossings (paved, you can ride through them), and the second half is pretty steep. I recently discovered this. I'd been up there once on a tandem with my wife about 12 years ago and it was way to steep for us. I'm looking forward to the next trip up there. It's as far away as you can be from Orange County, while still being in Orange County (if that makes sense).

Thanks for the info guys...maybe this ride is just what I need this week to get my motivation back. I seem to have misplaced it. :o

Here's some stats on the Silverado climb.... It was part of a bigger loop we did a couple weekends ago.

We started at the tree farm. The road ends at the 8.68mile mark (from my Garmin).

http://connect.garmin.com/player/2815097

Here's some stats on the Silverado climb.... It was part of a bigger loop we did a couple weekends ago.

We started at the tree farm. The road ends at the 8.68mile mark (from my Garmin).

http://connect.garmin.com/player/2815097

Thanks...that was helpful! So starting elevation around 1000 ft and ends around 3000 ft with some undulations, if I recall correctly. Not bad at all for a 8.7 mile climb, considering GMR is 8.3 miles gate to gate and 2200ft of climbing. I can't wait to ride this past the gate this week...I am kind of hoping I'm left wondering why I drive out to GMR all the time! :p

Crossing my fingers that this pulls me out of my funk. There's hope...this is actually the first time I've been excited about riding in weeks. :o :cry:

Where does this split off Como?

Thanks...that was helpful! So starting elevation around 1000 ft and ends around 3000 ft with some undulations, if I recall correctly. Not bad at all for a 8.7 mile climb, considering GMR is 8.3 miles gate to gate and 2200ft of climbing. I can't wait to ride this past the gate this week...I am kind of hoping I'm left wondering why I drive out to GMR all the time! :p

This is near the bridge on Santiago, right?

I know what you mean about GMR!!! I will have to head back into the OC just for this climb... Head up Jamboree for a warm up and then tackle this... That would help my clibing out immensely!

This is near the bridge on Santiago, right?

I know what you mean about GMR!!! I will have to head back into the OC just for this climb... Head up Jamboree for a warm up and then tackle this... That would help my clibing out immensely!

Yes...near the bridge.

The trek out to GMR wears on me...I feel like I waste an hour and a half to two hours driving, that I could be riding. You know...if I were actually in the mood to ride lately. :innocent: :cry: :o Anyway...15 minutes to Tustin Marketplace and a nice ass kickin' warmup on Jamboree is more appealing right now.

I'm actually excited to get out there later this week. Glad that I stumbled upon this thread! :) Now I'm just hoping I don't become Mountain Lion lunch. :eek:

Yes, it's right past the bridge on Santiago on the left (coming from the Jamboree side). I believe you can see the Christmas Tree farm off of Santiago also.

If you ride up to where Maple Springs hits the dirt, just be careful on the way down at the stream crossings. The crossings can be slippery on the way down if you don't hit it straight on and with the steep grades, it's easy to pick up a lot of speed.

The climb is definitely not as scenic as GMR. You're basically riding in a canyon and visually it's hard to tell how steep it is unless you look back... I usually have my heart rate pegged and can't figure out why I'm having such a bad day cause I'm going so slow... until I look back down the road.

I like Silverado (though I didn't know that there was still some riding after the gate). It's not nearly as challenging as GMR but I like adding it to my Canyon rides. Unfortunately, none of my ride buddies likes it...I think they get creeped out with how it seems that you have gone back in time when you hit the village.

B, funny that you were up there on Christmas Day. Rose, Fletch and I drove out there to see if we could hike up to some snow but the rain was so heavy, we decided to do something else. I would not have wanted to be on a bicycle that day.

The climb is definitely not as scenic as GMR. You're basically riding in a canyon and visually it's hard to tell how steep it is unless you look back... I usually have my heart rate pegged and can't figure out why I'm having such a bad day cause I'm going so slow... until I look back down the road.

This description reminds me of Oak Glen from the Breathless Agony route. You sit there thinking 'Why am I only able to go 5-6 MPH, and my HR is pegged?' and then you look at the grade measurement on the garmin and it says '+12'...

The climb is definitely not as scenic as GMR. You're basically riding in a canyon and visually it's hard to tell how steep it is unless you look back... I usually have my heart rate pegged and can't figure out why I'm having such a bad day cause I'm going so slow... until I look back down the road.

I didn't realize how steep it was until I was flying down the descent the first time I climbed it. I can't wait to do this!

CJ...yeah, our Christmas day century was not one of my brightest ideas. We didn't leave HB until noon and that was after sleeping in and consuming an enormous breakfast that included a half of a package of bacon, each. Good times. :roflmao2:

Crossing my fingers that this pulls me out of my funk. There's hope...this is actually the first time I've been excited about riding in weeks. :o :cry:

Here's hoping you find your cycling mojo Brandy! Your progress and exploits on the road have been very inspiring these past few years. I'm about to upgrade to a fancy new bike and need all the inspiration I can get!

Probably not as fun as GMR, but definitely a worthy substitution. It gets steep to the point where all you can do is 5-6 mph, I prefer the 5-8% grades where you can actually find a rhythm. Also the decent is steep with some sandy/gravely sections and stream crossings, the GMR decent is way better. The Silverado decent is fun though, and brakes aren't needed, unless there's traffic in the residential parts. I thought the scenery was good enough, not like the views in the San Gabriels, but again outweighed by the fact that I can ride from HB/Fountain Valley.

There isn't a Como split off that does this, I just opted for it by myself. There's a Canyon Velo ride on Saturdays that heads up Silverado, they don't do the Maple Springs extra credit.

Get out of the slump Brandy, bring some tunes and just zone out on the climb. Worked for me a couple of weeks ago :)

I live near Jamboree/Santiago Cyn, so I often ride out to Silverado up to the gate. Last Saturday the gate was open and I continued on past. It was a nice ride, but then I was starting to get a headwind as I was going uphill, so I decided I would go to the end of the paved portion another day. But although the descent is fun, do be careful to watch for people backing out of driveways.

Another good, steady climb in south OC is Antonio parkway, starting at Ortega and the hill goes for about four miles or so. It runs into a slight downhill right before Oso parkway. Not sure what the grade is, but it's decent and sustained throughout the four miles.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3426527311_15ba0a7b4b_o.jpg

I did Silverado Canyon yesterday if you're interested I made a blog post.

my blog (http://epictrain.blogspot.com/)

I did Silverado Canyon yesterday if you're interested I made a blog post.

my blog (http://epictrain.blogspot.com/)

Descending in the dark and cold, while wet from falling into the stream. Yes, you certainly do like adventure:D

What's your twitter id?

edit: found it (http://twitter.com/epictrain).

Descending in the dark and cold, while wet from falling into the stream. Yes, you certainly do like adventure:D

What's your twitter id?

edit: found it (http://twitter.com/epictrain).

Yeah I didn't plan anything last night. I just went with my impulse.

Thanks for the Twitter love:)

I had to one up Vireo and go farther on the dirt. :thumb: I still can't believe I took the R3 off the pavement :eek: but it handled nicely. I think I got up to around 4,000 ft...I was on the dirt section for 2.6 miles. I'll post some pics and blog about the ride tomorrow.

Whew...I blogged for the first time in months. :)

http://wheelsrolling.blogspot.com/

I had to one up Vireo and go farther on the dirt. :thumb: I still can't believe I took the R3 off the pavement :eek: but it handled nicely. I think I got up to around 4,000 ft...I was on the dirt section for 2.6 miles. I'll post some pics and blog about the ride tomorrow.

Today Brandy and I went to Santiago Peak.

Here is the posting (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=8718573&postcount=63)

I went up Newport Coast once and spent the entire time staring at my front wheel. I never saw a thing. How long and steep is it?

Today Brandy and I went to Santiago Peak.

Here is the posting (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=8718573&postcount=63)

I created a video (http://www.epictrain.com/Video_gallery.html) of our ride up to Santiago Peak.

There's a lot of good climbs out near PID, Alicia, Aliso Creek, Pacific Park, Niguel, etc. that you could string together a pretty good workout. You could loop around there for 40-50 miles and get 8K climbing in a pretty tight area around Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel.

Copy some of the climbing rides the OC Rebels post on their site (route slips are downloadable usually on Wednesdays). Those guys have that area hard wired - they know where to find the pain.

More down there: Golden Lantern, Aliso Viejo Pkwy (still named Laguna Hills Rd. on Franko's map).parts of Moulton, Crown Valley,Camino Del Avion, StoneHill...just get a topo map - that area is loaded with 8-12%'ers.

If you want big climbs in OC you have to check out the Seven Sisters loop. Seven crushing climbs that get longer and steeper as they go. This is a pretty punishing ride. Grades reach mid-20%.

I've done it twice. Finishing is really rewarding and the views are incredible.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=14990

If you want big climbs in OC you have to check out the Seven Sisters loop. Seven crushing climbs that get longer and steeper as they go. This is a pretty punishing ride. Grades reach mid-20%.

I've done it twice. Finishing is really rewarding and the views are incredible.

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=14990

Where do I find the route sheet for this route?


I did a hard hill climbing day (http://epictrain.blogspot.com/2008/07/so-who-said-you-cant-get-9000-feet-of.html) (9k of climbing) with climbs just off the coast. I can post the next I do this ride and you're welcome to join me.

I would make it more akin to Mulholland Century and Double type training. Short steep stuff nothing over 3 miles in length.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3320/3441570293_70899a24d0_o.jpg

Here's my version of the 7 sisters... starts from Windrow Park in Irvine.

You're gonna love this ride George, especially Nyes Place.

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=42807

Here's my version of the 7 sisters... starts from Windrow Park in Irvine.

You're gonna love this ride George, especially Nyes Place.

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=42807

Thank you for the route sheet. I see a lot of the same climbs I did without knowing the area very well yet.

I have never used bikeroutetoaster.com. How do you like it? I noticed one feature I like already-- the pulldown options AFTER the route sheet has been created.

On the graph above, I did Nyes Place. It gets your attention.

Sounds like we should ride and suffer together!:roflmao2:

Yeah the Sever Sisters is great hill repeat training. The only thing missing is overall elevation. The extra oxygen at sea level is helpful. It would be nice to find a similar ride at 6K or higher.

I have never used bikeroutetoaster.com. How do you like it? I noticed one feature I like already-- the pulldown options AFTER the route sheet has been created.

I just started using it to plot out rides as I recently got a garmin 705. So far I like it a lot. It's pretty quick and easy to use. I tried mapmyride.com, but the ads were annoying!


Sounds like we should ride and suffer together!:roflmao2: Sounds good, but I'm in no shape right now to ride with you.... you'd get pretty bored waiting for me.

Here's some stats on the Silverado climb.... It was part of a bigger loop we did a couple weekends ago.

We started at the tree farm. The road ends at the 8.68mile mark (from my Garmin).

http://connect.garmin.com/player/2815097

Just bumped into this thread while I was looking for hills in the OC area.

Did anyone recently do this Silverado Canyon route? Is it safe to do this by yourself?

Will my road bike, 23c tires, endure the unpaved roads (I believe there are unpaved sections here based on some replies)?

What should I look out for?

This is pretty cool as I have relatives living on the other end of the route (Corona).

TIA.

I do it on a mountain bike but see lots of roadies out there. It's safe to go alone. I just wouldn't do it really early or late in the day in case something happens to you.

I would not venture past the paved section of road. That is MTB territory. The posters were talking about doing the 3 mile paved section and then turning around. Not certain how your relatives in Corona play into things unless of course you are mountain biking and going over the Divide which is an epic ride... Look up Maple Springs. You should find the information you want.

If you want a good climb, from Irvine go to Bake, turn left, to Portola, over to Glen Ranch and then Ridgeline down to Santiago. Take Santiago out to (going west) to Silverado and turn right. Take the country road all the way out and passed the Cleveland National Forest trailhead. The road stays paved for 3 miles... turn around. You can then continue west on Santiago to Jamboree and back home. May not be "sustained" climbing but climbing nonetheless.

For a long climb I suggest starting from Back Bay Rd., take San Joaquin, continue up San Joaquin to Ridgepark, turn right and take it to the top. Definitely a long, steep sustained climb. Will probably take you an hour. Also from PCH, take Newport Coast up and take turn onto Vista Park to RIdgepark. Another long sustained climb. Will take you an hour.

But like someone said - for the best sustained climbs take up moutnain biking. You can do Black Star, Old Camp, Maple Springs, Sierra Peak, etc. All climbs of at least 9 miles...