Mix Canyon and Gates Canyon. Two truly insane climbs. The two toughest medium-length climbs I have ever ridden (and I have ridden a lot of steep climbs!). You would have to be slightly demented to attempt them.
Mix Canyon
Stats from John Summerson’s Climbing (By Bike) In California book for Mix Canyon:
Needless to say, Mix Canyon, by the stats, is an epic climb. Gates Canyon is no easier.
Anyway, I started out at Alamo Creek Park Park in Vacaville. From here, I headed north on Alamo Dr, quickly turned left on Foothill Dr, then turned right right on Pleasants Valley Rd. Pleasants Valley is a pleasant, scenic road:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
After about 4 miles of rolling terrain along Pleasants Valley Rd, I hit the infamous Mix Canyon:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Initially, Mix is an easy, scenic ride through pleasant farms:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Soon, the canyon closes in and you ride along a lightly flowing creek:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
As you can see, the road is rather narrow. The last section, while easy compared to the rest of the ride, is no walk in the park. Shortly after, the road rises above the creek and the grade kicks up a bit:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
A short while later and you experience true suffering:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Bring your climbing gears!
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
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| From HQ Panoramas |
Click on the last image for a nice HQ panorama.
Cute house at this point in the climb:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The climbing from this point is just insane. The scenery, however, is great:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Of course, you are likely to miss the beauty while trying to keep upright at 15%+. Keep in mind that this mile averages 15.8%. Fun. If that is not ridiculous enough, this half mile averages nearly 17.5% (assuming semi-accurate numbers from mapmyride). Insane.
Finally, a sane switchback:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Why is this sane? This switchback contains the easiest grade encountered for the last half mile or so. This is, basically, your respite. Enjoy, as it won’t last..
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Climbing up from that switchback the even more insane section starts. Still can’t quite believe I climbed this road..and, without stopping. It doesn’t get any easier..
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Ridiculous climb:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Beautiful:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The top of the climb:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
From here, you can continue to the right:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
And continue along Blue Ridge Road (hard pack/gravel) for some nice views..
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The descent sucks. Prepare yourself. Overly steep. Rough. Poor engineering (technical curves). Narrow road (one lane width, basically). This is one of the toughest descents in California. Be careful.
Gates Canyon
Gates Canyon is only 2 miles from Mix Canyon, yet is rarely mentioned. This is unfortunate. Gates is nearly as tough as Mix. Despite its proximity to Mix and a mention on Stanford’s cycling site, Gates seems to be basically invisible. I hope to change that as Gates deserves a place on the list of ridiculous climbs in California. Gates is arguably tougher than Mix..and that is saying quite a bit.
Gates is gentle and scenic initially:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Gates stays gentle for quite a while along a small creek:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Eventually, the grade kicks up a bit:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
And the pavement ends:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The next 0.65 miles are unpaved. Well, sort of.. This section appears to have been paved at some point in the last few decades. However, it has been left to degrade back to nature. As such, it is now basically hard pack with gravel on top. Despite an average grade of almost 11% for this stretch, a road bike with decent tires will get you through this. I ran Michelin Krylion tires and got up this section with minimal trouble (keep your pedaling steady and you won’t spin the rear tire too much).
Of course, just as the unpaved section ends, you hit a wall of pavement:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The above photo does no justice to the grade of the road.
This, however, serves justice to the grade:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
As does this:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Seriously? Those two photos are ridiculous. Have you ever seen a road as steep as that? Ever wonder what it is like to climb at 95% of your max heart rate and yet be crawling along at 3.5mph? Welcome to Gates. Masochists, please apply here.
A slightly easier section:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Of course, that is by no means easy..
The views, however, just increase in beauty:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
A nice panorama from a bit farther up (click for a high res version):
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| From HQ Panoramas |
More climbing:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Apparently abandoned buildings near the end of the climb:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Antenna towers up top:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The final push:
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
The top..
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
Lake Curry (I think):
| From 2010-08-18 – Vacaville Cycling – Mix Canyon & Gates Canyon Climbing |
So yes, Gates Canyon is epic as well. I found Gates to be tougher than Mix Canyon. Of course, Gates was the second climb of the day, so I was already fatigued from having climbed Mix. Despite that, it seemed like Gates packed an even steeper section into an even shorter climbing section. I’m working on the stats and will update soon. In the meantime, you can assume Mix and Gates to be two of the hardest medium-length climbs in California. Enjoy!
Update: A couple of quick stats for Gates..
GarminConnect Page:
Mix Canyon:
Gates Canyon:
Enjoy!




