Mosquito Ridge Road
A long mountain road east from Foresthill, winding through the American River country to the French Meadows Road junction near the reservoir. Tight bends and remote stretches make this a drive to plan ahead for; get fuel and supplies in town.
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Check Tahoe National Forest alerts and the American River Ranger District for vehicle access before leaving Foresthill. Fire recovery work, seasonal snow and temporary closures can affect this remote road; this is not a live open-road report. Check current access ↗ · Reviewed 2026-09-13
Road shape
- Length
- 34.9 mi
- Bends
- 199
- Switchbacks
- 30
- Bends per mile
- 5.7
- Turning per mile
- 584°
- Curviest rank
- 49of 135
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
- 9,001ft
- Climb per mile
- 258ft
- Highest point
- 5,986ft
- Steepest grade
- 7.6%
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.
Limits vary by section. Follow posted 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:
- Visit Placer · French Meadows access via Mosquito Ridge Road ↗
- Tahoe National Forest · alerts and forest orders ↗
- OpenStreetMap road data ↗ (26 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-13. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.