California Touge.Best driving roads in California

Banner Grade · SR 78

The drop east out of Julian down to Scissors Crossing and the desert floor.

TechnicalDifficulty 3/3 · DemandingLaguna & Cuyamaca Mountains

Road shape

Length
11.3 mi
Bends
54
Switchbacks
4
Bends per mile
4.8
Turning per mile
441°
Curviest rank
49of 85

Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.

Elevation

Low 2,282 ft11.4 miHigh 4,226 ft
Total climb
2,155ft
Climb per mile
191ft
Highest point
4,225ft
Steepest grade
6.9%

Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.

Speed limits

Varies

Unverified

Check posted signs along the road.

No posted limit has been verified for this selected section. Follow current signs.

Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.

Sources

Difficulty 3/3 (Demanding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Technical” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:

Reviewed 2026-09-09. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.

Roads nearby

View on the Bay Area map →Check road conditions ↗Open in Google Maps ↗All 85 roads →