San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Santa Cruz Mountains – Hicks Road North/Mt. Umunhum Climbing

4.1 miles. 2,199 ft elevation gain. 10.2% average grade. 17% max grade.

Let that sink in for a minute. Over 4 miles of climbing at over 10%. If that doesn’t scare you just a little bit, I don’t know what will.

Anyway, this is, not surprisingly, another climb listed in Summerson’s The Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike) in California. In this book, Hicks Road North/Mt Umunhum gets a few noteworthy mentions..

For all of California:

For the San Francisco Bay Area:

With this many mentions..and an entire mile at 13.9% (!), I had to try this out. Somehow, I actually also convinced my mom to attempt it as well. She is an avid cyclist, but stats like these give her pause. Anyway, despite the ridiculousness of the grade, she was game (after thinking it over for a few minutes). Sweet.

The first part of Hicks Road consists of rolling bumps that gradually bring you upwards (<400 feet gain in 5 miles). This stretch is semi-scenic:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

There is a bit of car traffic along here though, so watch your line. The only real climbing in this first stretch is a short, but steep, bump up to Guadalupe Reservoir:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Enjoy the respite along the reservoir. It will not last. After you round a sharp bend (and cross a second small creek crossing), you are suddenly faced with a wall of pain..

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Sadly, I was not able to capture the full extent of the misery/steepness of this portion. There are no real switchbacks that easily show the grade. So, keeping in mind the 14% nature of this part of the climb, here is my mom powering on up:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

And looking up from that point:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Looking back from the top of Hicks:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

The last section of Hicks is quite mellow compared to the first climbing section. It is still in the 8-10% range, but is a welcome break from 14%. Of course, despite this easier section, the Hicks Road North section still averages about 12.4% for the entire climbing section. So yes, 13.9% for an entire mile and 12.4% overall. Of course, why not make it harder by including Mt. Umunhum? This is just another 2.9 miles at 9.5% (and 1,450 ft ascent). Easy, right?

If you are up for that, turn right on Mt. Umunhum Road to complete the rest of the climb:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Along here you will be riding through the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

The climbing is initially mellow, but gets tough (once again!) pretty quickly:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Occasional shade along this steep route:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Partway up Mt. Umunhum Road, the road is closed to car traffic (aside from government and resident traffic):

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

The gate at this point means that, basically, you have the road to yourself for the next 1.2 miles.

Climbing higher and higher:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Almost there!

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

So close..

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Success!

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Elevation at the No Trespassing line (beyond here, there are private property issues): 2,846 feet. How I wish I could continue on up.. maybe in 2013 when they finish cleaning up the asbestos and lead that will be a possibility. Until then, this is still an epic climb (I’d say epic is fair wording for 4 miles at over 10%). And, despite not getting to summit Mount Umunhum itself, you do get some rather close views of the infamous summit:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Mt. Umunhum is easily recognized by its five-story box-shaped radar tower (the building seen in the above photo). This tower operated as an early-warning radar station until 1980. While no longer in operation, it is still a landmark in the Bay Area (even 30 years later!). So yeah, while ascending or descending, stop a second and enjoy the view of Umunhum and appreciate the history of this mountain.

And, appreciate the fact that you will now be descending while taking in epic views:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

That would be me appreciating said fact.

More of those views:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Steep, but beautiful, descending:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

And some more descending..

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

Nice. Those two pictures should be all that is necessary to convince you to try this ride. But, if not, some more scenery..

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

And one more descending picture:

From 2010-07-25 – San Francisco Bay Area Cycling – Hicks Rd & Mt. Umunhum Climb

So yeah…not a bad ride. Extremely demanding and very scenic. This is a must-do for anyone looking for either tough climbs (and this is a tough climb) or scenic climbs (the views along Mt Umunhum Rd are very scenic).

MapMyRide map of the whole climb (including the 5 mile warm-up):

MapMyRide map of the Hicks Road North Climb (click the elevation profile for this climb!):

And the MapMyRide map of the Mt. Umunhum Road Section (also an impressive elevation profile):

Garmin Connect data:

If you are wondering..yes, I did forget to turn the Garmin back on for the descent (of all the times to forget..oh well..).

So, in conclusion, this is an excellent climb. Tough (very tough), scenic and fun. Give it a try.