Glendora Mountain Road (GMR)
The technical climb from Big Dalton Canyon Road in Glendora, over the ridge junction and down to East Fork Road. Mountain views and repeated tight bends lead into the more open canyon roads below.
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Gates may close for weather, fire restrictions or holidays. Check current vehicle access. Check current access · Reviewed 2026-09-09
On the road
Glendora Mountain Road
F80 M3 and F87 M2 Competition cruising on Glendora Mountain Road.
TougeMap original footage · 1 minute
Planning the drive
GMR runs 12.4 miles from Big Dalton Canyon Road to East Fork Road with 118 counted bends, 28 of them full switchbacks — a long, sustained technical climb rather than a short burst. The grade stays gentle by canyon-road standards (6.5% at its steepest, 282 ft of climb per mile on average), so the difficulty here is corner count and blind, decreasing-radius turns rather than outright steepness. Much of the road has no centerline, which matters on the blind sections.
GMR is genuinely narrow and shared: cyclists climb it in packs, often several abreast, and weekend mornings bring joggers and antique-car clubs as well as other drivers. A late-afternoon or weekday run gets you a clearer road than a weekend morning. The sustained downhill also cooks brakes on an unprepared car — check pads, fluid and tires before treating this as a spirited descent, not just a scenic one. The Gentleman Racer: Drive — Glendora Mountain Road / Glendora Ridge Road
The GMR trace starts at Big Dalton Canyon Road, climbs to the ridge junction and descends to East Fork Road. Glendora Ridge Road is the separate branch toward Mount Baldy. East Fork Road then continues the drive toward Highway 39 and Azusa, changing character into a more open canyon road. Check the county's vehicle-access notices before going: the presence of a mapped road or recorded driving footage does not establish that a gate is open today. LA County: road and gate closures
Roads to connect
- East Fork RoadFollow it west from the north end of GMR to reach Highway 39.
- San Gabriel Canyon Road · SR 39The Highway 39 leg toward Azusa after East Fork; the northern road is a separate outing.
- Glendora Ridge Road · GRRThe branch toward Mount Baldy at the Cow Canyon Saddle junction.
Full route: Glendora Mountain Road to Highway 39 →
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 12.4 mi
- Bends
- 118
- Switchbacks
- 28
- Bends per mile
- 9.5
- Turning per mile
- 1108°
- Curviest rank
- 9of 168
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
- Total climb
- 3,500ft
- Climb per mile
- 282ft
- Highest point
- 3,440ft
- Steepest grade
- 6.5%
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
No posted limit has been verified for this selected section. Follow current signs.
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:
- Reddit, r/Touge · Attention all who live in and around Los Angeles
- Reddit, r/BikeLA · GMR closed to cars Labor Day
- LA County · current mountain road closures
- OpenStreetMap road data (1 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-13. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Drives that include this road
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.