Mount Hamilton Road

Endless switchbacks from San Jose up to Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton

California State Route 130, Mount Hamilton Road, twists up from the edge of San Jose to Lick Observatory, perched at around 4,200 feet on Mount Hamilton in the Diablo Range overlooking the Santa Clara Valley. It is a famously serpentine climb, deliberately graded gently for the wagons that once hauled the telescope parts up in the 1870s, so the corners are near continuous but the gradient is mild. Pavement is narrow and patchy in places and there are no services at the top. Mind cyclists on the climb, narrow blind corners with little room to pass, and fog or ice near the summit.