Rock Creek Road
Tom's Place / Hwy 395 · near Tom's Place / Bishop · Eastern Sierra
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- medium
- Best season
- Summer–early fall; upper road snow-closed much of the year
What is here
- Scenery
- mountain
- Amenities
- Highest paved road-end in California · Alpine lakes & pine forest · Rock Creek Lake & resort · Spectacular high-country finish
- Best for
- California's highest paved road-end
- Features
- Ride to CA's highest paved road-end · Near 10,300 ft at the top · Alpine lakes & granite peaks · Thin-air high-country reward
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Highest paved road-end in CA — extreme altitude · Thin air & cold even in summer · Remote — limited services; carry everything · Snow-closed up high much of the year
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 5
- Ride notes
- A climb to the highest paved road-end in California — up Rock Creek canyon from Tom's Place to the Mosquito Flat trailhead near 10,300 ft, through pines and past alpine lakes into thin, spectacular high-country air
- Stats note
- ~9 mi, ~3,300 ft gain to ~10,300 ft — the highest paved road-end in CA
- Seasonal
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A climb to the highest paved road-end in California — ~9 miles and ~3,300 ft from Tom's Place (US-395) up Rock Creek canyon to the Mosquito Flat trailhead near 10,300 ft, through pines and past alpine lakes into thin, brilliant Sierra air ringed by granite. Shorter than the region's giant escarpment climbs but finishing higher than almost anything, so altitude is the challenge (cold, thin air even in summer). Upper road snow-closed much of the year — a summer/early-fall objective. Limited services: carry everything, pace the elevation, dress for cold.
The guide
Rock Creek Road, climbing from Tom's Place on Highway 395 up the Rock Creek canyon to the Mosquito Flat trailhead near 10,300 f…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Rock Creek Road — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.44, -118.73