Page Mill Road
Palo Alto / Santa Cruz Mtns · near Palo Alto · SF Bay Area
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- medium
- Best season
- Year-round; shaded lower, exposed upper; damp in winter
What is here
- Scenery
- forest
- Amenities
- Open-space preserve views · Connects to Skyline ridge routes · A step up from Old La Honda · Grand South Bay panoramas
- Best for
- A tougher training climb to Skyline
- Features
- Steeper alternative to Old La Honda · Twisting climb to Skyline Ridge · Open-space preserve scenery · Grand valley views up high
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Steep, twisting road with tight switchbacks · Some traffic near the preserves · Damp/slick surface in winter · Descend with control — blind corners
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 4
- Ride notes
- A demanding, twisting climb from Palo Alto up to Skyline Ridge — steeper and more relentless than Old La Honda, through oak woodland and open preserve land with grand valley views, a favorite training climb
- Stats note
- ~8.5 mi, ~2,000 ft gain to Skyline; steep, twisting upper switchbacks
- Seasonal
- No
- Intl tip
- A classic Peninsula training climb — longer, steeper, and more relentless than nearby Old La Honda, gaining ~2,000 ft over ~8.5 twisting miles from Palo Alto to Skyline. Starts in oak woodland, opens onto ridge grasslands and preserves with grand South Bay views, and links into the Skyline route network. Steep, tight upper switchbacks. Watch for traffic near the preserves, descend the blind corners with control, and expect a slick surface after winter rain.
The guide
Page Mill Road, snaking up from Palo Alto to Skyline Boulevard, is one of the classic training climbs of the Peninsula — longer…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Page Mill Road — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.4, -122.155