California Touge.Best driving roads in California

Palomares Road

A rural canyon connection from Castro Valley toward Niles Canyon, with narrow bends and driveways.

TechnicalDifficulty 3/3 · DemandingEast Bay

Road shape

Length
10.3 mi
Bends
43
Switchbacks
3
Bends per mile
4.2
Turning per mile
427°
Curviest rank
53of 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 142 ft9.7 mi · longest continuous section, 93% of the roadHigh 1,207 ft
Total climb
2,314ft
Climb per mile
225ft
Highest point
1,490ft
Steepest grade
9.8%

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

25–40 mph

Mapped limits

Approximate guide; limits vary by section. Follow posted signs.

OpenStreetMap tags cover approximately 94% of this trace. These values have not been checked against current signs.

Speed-limit source ↗

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 2026-09-08. 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 →