Ebbetts Pass
Hwy 4 / Alpine County · near Markleeville / Bear Valley · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- long
- Best season
- Summer–early fall ONLY; closed by snow in winter
What is here
- Scenery
- mountain
- Amenities
- Wild, skinny, no-centerline pass · Granite, meadows & alpine lakes · Iconic Death Ride climb · Deep quiet & solitude
- Best for
- A wild, intimate high-alpine pass
- Features
- Skinny, centerline-free mountain road · Granite & alpine-lake scenery · Legendary Death Ride pass · Wild, quiet high country
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- SEASONAL — closed by snow in winter · Narrow, no-centerline road — descend cautiously · High altitude; remote; few services · Steep pitches on both sides
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- pass · climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 5
- Ride notes
- A narrow, wild high pass on Highway 4 at 8,730 ft — so quiet and skinny it has no centerline, climbing through granite, wildflower meadows, and alpine lakes, a beloved centerpiece of the legendary Death Ride
- Stats note
- Summit 8,730 ft; narrow centerline-free road; steep pitches; a Death Ride pass
- Seasonal
- Yes
- Intl tip
- One of the most charming and wild of the Sierra high passes — Hwy 4 to 8,730 ft in Alpine County, a road so narrow and lightly traveled that much of it has no centerline, winding up through granite, wildflower meadows, and alpine lakes with an intimate backcountry feel. A beloved centerpiece of the legendary Death Ride, climbed from both sides. Strictly seasonal (snow-closed in the colder months). Narrow, high, remote, with steep pitches: carry food, water, and layers, watch for cars, descend the skinny road with control.
The guide
Ebbetts Pass, crossing the Sierra at 8,730 feet on Highway 4 in Alpine County, is one of the most charming and wild of the high…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Ebbetts Pass — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.5462, -119.8082