# Santa Monica/Malibu Climbs



## 310bike

What are some of your favorite rides and climbs in Santa Monica/Malibu. Also what loops and connecting climbs? Let me know, new to the area. Thanks!


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## endo verendo

Wow, so many possible loops! A nice one I did recently: up Topanga and then up Fernwood for the fantastic views, down Stunt Rd., left on Mulholland, left on Cold Creek, up Piuma, down Las Flores. Of course Latigo is a favorite. Today I rode up Las Flores, which I wouldn't recommend with the gusty headwinds we had today, unless you like trackstanding suddenly, but still a killer climb. 

If you need a tour guide, PM me. I have a bunch of free time.


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## il sogno

Old Topanga Cyn is nice.


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## DrRoebuck

All the good climbs connect with Mulholland Hwy, so you can take one canyon to Mulholland then take Mulholland to a different one to go down, then back up yet another one, etc., etc.

My usual routes when I lived in Brentwood (sigh), each one getting longer in distance and all starting by heading up PCH:


Topanga-->valley-->Sepulveda
Malibu Cyn-->Piuma-->Las Flores-->PCH
Malibu Cyn-->Mulholland Hwy-->Old Topanga-->PCH
Latigo-->Kanan-->Mulholland Hwy-->Old Topanga-->PCH
Latigo-->Kanan-->Mulholland Hwy-->Stunt-->Fernwood-->Topanga-->PCH
PCH-->Mulholland Hwy-->Old Topanga

These are by far not the hardest climbs; I prefer the not-so-insanely steep routes. But Mulholland Hwy and Latigo are both plenty long.


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## il sogno

Encinal is good too. You wind up at the top of Decker and can loop back down to PCH via Mulholland Highway.


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## il sogno

Yerba Buena is another good one. It's about 8 miles of climbing and you can take Mulholland Hwy down to PCH or make your way down Encinal.


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## Hollywood

il sogno said:


> Yerba Buena is another good one. It's about 8 miles of climbing and you can take Mulholland Hwy down to PCH or make your way down Encinal.


you guys whine too much to be climbers!!!! rrr:


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## lemonlime

il sogno said:


> Yerba Buena is another good one. It's about 8 miles of climbing and you can take Mulholland Hwy down to PCH or make your way down Encinal.


Just rode YB today. The climb itself is fun but the road surface is completely awful. Huge cracks and seams and shredded pavement made it not fun. Thank goodness I wasn't descending over that crap.


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## il sogno

Hollywood said:


> you guys whine too much to be climbers!!!! rrr:


I've ridden every one of the climbs I've mentioned. At least once.


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## il sogno

lemonlime said:


> Just rode YB today. The climb itself is fun but the road surface is completely awful. Huge cracks and seams and shredded pavement made it not fun. Thank goodness I wasn't descending over that crap.


It's been a while since I rode YB. The pavement was in a lot better shape in the early 2000's.:blush2:


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## cheddarlove

I rode up Latigo on Saturday. The wind was howling and I literally got blown into the other lane. My friend got blown off her bike and turned around.

We stuck it out because we had driven there to just focus on climbing but it was gnarley. 
As we got higher, the wind was better simply because it was blocked.

At the bottom of Latigo we turned right on Kanan Dume and then left on Mulholland. 
We went down Encinal at the Mulholland/Encinal split and took that to Decker.

Down Decker to PCH. PCH was unreal. Serious wind! We lost another friend that turned back but later found out she had to walk some on PCH because she kept getting blown over. 
We headed up Yerba Buena. That has to be the most beautiful climb. But yeah, the pavement is horrible!! 
The Mulholland Challenge goes down that and it is one reason why I'm not doing it this year. My hands can't take it!
Anyway, the wind never let up. I was in a 39x25 snailing along at 5 mph sometimes. 
Total head wind almost the whole way. It sucked! 
We stayed on it because it was better than PCH and also we decided if we drove out there then dammit, we better ride regardless!

After YB, we turned left on Mulholland to Kanan, right on Kanan, left on Latigo and the fun tech downhill to PCH. Which by then the wind had died. Of course! 

And of course it wasn't windy today!   
We parked at Bluffs Park

Miles:57
Elevation gain: 7200

We had planned to also go up Mulholland but were to blown from the wind. 
Next time I guess.


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## lemonlime

il sogno said:


> It's been a while since I rode YB. The pavement was in a lot better shape in the early 2000's.:blush2:


It sucks dog balls now.


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## Hollywood

lemonlime said:


> It sucks dog balls now.


you guys whine too much to be climbers!!!! rrr:


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## DrRoebuck

Hollywood said:


> you guys whine too much to be climbers!!!! rrr:


Spammer.

I just reported you to the SoCal forum mod.


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## Hollywood

DrRoebuck said:


> I just reported you to the SoCal forum mod.


wasn't that supposed to be me by now? Guess I didn't make the cut :cryin: 

have a good one tomorrow.


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## DrRoebuck

Hollywood said:


> wasn't that supposed to be me by now? Guess I didn't make the cut :cryin:
> 
> have a good one tomorrow.


I guess they just found the capital "T" and are working on spelling the rest of your last name.

(Thanks.)


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## il sogno

Hollywood said:


> you guys whine too much to be climbers!!!! rrr:


I was gonna ride Mulholland Hwy today but went to Pasadena with Mappy to eat Chinese food instead.


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## tom_h

Challenging hill climb ride I did a few weeks ago:
Topanga Canyon Rd > Fernwood Pacific Dr > Saddlepeak Rd (intersects top of Stunt Rd).
Overall 8.7 mile, +2400 ft gain.
Fernwood Pacific Dr is steep ... +1100 ft in 2.7 miles, 7.7% avg grade ... with many 10%+ sections .

Latigo Cyn Rd & Stunt Rd also great climbs, as others have noted.

Some indexes of LA area climbs:
http://www.lagrange.org/local_climbs.htm
http://veloworx.com/localclimbs.htm
http://www.sundancecycles.com/rides/climbchart.php
http://www.socalvelo.com/sub/socalclimbs.htm


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