California Touge.Best driving roads in California

West Alpine Road

The narrow western descent from Skyline toward Pescadero Creek, with forest switchbacks and changing visibility.

TechnicalDifficulty 3/3 · DemandingPeninsula

Road shape

Length
7.6 mi
Bends
84
Switchbacks
10
Bends per mile
11.1
Turning per mile
1119°
Curviest rank
6of 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 459 ft7.5 miHigh 2,403 ft
Total climb
2,158ft
Climb per mile
284ft
Highest point
2,405ft
Steepest grade
8.4%

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 mph

Mapped limits

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

OpenStreetMap tags cover approximately 7% 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 →