Rock Creek Road
California’s highest paved public road, climbing from Tom’s Place on Highway 395 to the Mosquito Flat trailhead at over 10,200 feet.
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Snow-covered well into spring most years; not reliably open until late May or June. Check current access ↗ · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Road shape
- Length
- 10.4 mi
- Bends
- 25
- Switchbacks
- 0
- Bends per mile
- 2.4
- Turning per mile
- 214°
- Curviest rank
- 100of 128
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
- 3,184ft
- Climb per mile
- 306ft
- Highest point
- 10,229ft
- Steepest grade
- 9.1%
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
15–35 mph
Mapped limits
Approximate guide; limits vary by section. Follow posted signs.
OpenStreetMap tags cover approximately 99% of this trace. These values have not been checked against current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 2/3 (Winding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Technical” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- Dangerous Roads · Rock Creek Road ↗
- The Ridrs · Rock Creek Road, Tom’s Place to Mosquito Flat ↗
- Visit Mono County · Rock Creek Lake ↗
- OpenStreetMap road data ↗ (19 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-12. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.