California Touge.Best driving roads in California

Old Topanga Canyon Road

The narrow older road through the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, running from Topanga Canyon Boulevard up to Mulholland Highway.

TechnicalDifficulty 3/3 · DemandingMalibu / Santa Monica Mountains

Road shape

Length
5.7 mi
Bends
40
Switchbacks
7
Bends per mile
7
Turning per mile
751°
Curviest rank
27of 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 756 ft5.7 miHigh 1,524 ft
Total climb
1,207ft
Climb per mile
212ft
Highest point
1,516ft
Steepest grade
7.1%

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:

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

Roads nearby

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