The Toughest Road Climbs in NJ

No sweat!

cem said:
Skyline Drive from either side is quite a pedal
Schooleys Mountain Road from Long Valley is pretty rugged
Brookvalley Road from Lincoln Park over 287 into Butler
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I used to ride up Schooleys Mountain from Coleman Rd. to Flocktown Road via Naughright on a Huffy BMX bike at least 3 times a week. I must be honest about something though, I was in high school and I was riding up the mountain to visit a girl 😉

On a serious note - if you do this ride be very careful between Fairview Rd. and Squire Rd. The road is very narrow and cars come flying around the corners here.:scared:

If you take Schooley's Mountain Road, there are two blind curves within the first mile past Cycle Craft. If the car behind you takes it wide to pass, it won't leave any room for the car coming downhill.
 
peachcroft in peapack/bernardsville and claremont rd (starting from the b'ville train station all the way up to mountain) come to mind...
 
ChrisG said:
I was gonna mention Zellers; if I remember correctly, it has a great switchback which will just about induce a wheelie.:getsome:
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Funny, I rode Zellers today. I'll post up some details when Garmin Connect comes back up. Shocker, it's down again!

ryderX said:
I'd gladly lead a hill road epic some weekend in the near future in the Sussex Warren co. locale
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I'll certainly take you up on that offer!

clarkenstein said:
peachcroft in peapack/bernardsville and claremont rd (starting from the b'ville train station all the way up to mountain) come to mind...
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I rode that collection of hills last week maybe? I hit the lap button for all of them so after I break down today's hills I'll add those. the thing about Claremont, if you start at the train station you can get some major speed on the flat near the French restaurant, which sort of makes the "hill" less of what it might be.

That brings up the question, where does a climb end? I did 4 of the hills listed in that page linked earlier, and it's easy enough where to start the lap. But take Schooley's Mountain, which I did today. When you're done with the bulk of the climb, it turns almost a false flat. I took it all the way up to the traffic light, probably doing 15+ by the time I hit it. That sort of invalidates the whole "hillclimb" concept.
 
Norm said:
That brings up the question, where does a climb end? I did 4 of the hills listed in that page linked earlier, and it's easy enough where to start the lap. But take Schooley's Mountain, which I did today. When you're done with the bulk of the climb, it turns almost a false flat. I took it all the way up to the traffic light, probably doing 15+ by the time I hit it. That sort of invalidates the whole "hillclimb" concept.
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Good question, I was thinking this on the pleasant valley climb where you climb a low grade for awhile and then it almost flattens out for 50 yard and them goes back up. I think njbikemap shows it as two different climbs with the flag and the circle right next to each other.
 
Breakneck rd near waywayanda is pretty nuts. As is Rt 515 that connects to it. I rode from waywayanda and down it, then back up 515, which is a pretty good climb too. My 205 didnt map the data very well, but I found this online about it. I have not yet tried climbing it.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=243366


That whole are around hidden valley and mtn creek ski areas has some nice climbs.

Breakneck - NJ
I gathered four data sets (two going uphill and two going downhill) on the main section between the intersection of rt 515 with Main St of Vernon NJ and the intersection of Breakneck Rd with Tahama Rd. I also gathered two data sets (one going uphill and one downhill) for the sections above and below that: (1) lower starting from the railroad track on Vernon Cross (rt 646); and (2) higher, from Tahama Rd up Abricada Rd.

The lower section on rt 646 Vernon Cross has only a short climb, with a short section maybe around 8%. (seemed too short to have enough data to measure accurately)

The main section had about 90 data points for each of the four runs. These were the steep sections:

rt 515 from Main St up to Breakneck Rd includes around 50 vertical ft with steepness around 14-16% grade.

1st section Breakneck Rd up to Hidden Valley ski area includes around 40 ft around 13%.

2nd section Breakneck includes around 150 ft around 16%, including 30-40 ft around 19%.

in between 2nd + 3rd is around 110 vertical ft at around 11% grade.

3rd section Breakneck includes 120 ft around 19-20%, including something like 50 ft steeper than 20%.

4th section Breakneck includes 45 vertical ft around 12-13% grade.

For those continuing the climb above Breakneck turning south on Tahama Rd . . .

Abricada Rd includes around 75 vertical ft around 16% grade.

I think what makes Breakneck so hard is that the super-steep 3rd section comes so soon after the very steep 2nd section (and that the super-steep section goes around a curve, so on your first time you don't know how long it's going to be). From the bottom of the 2nd steep section to the top of the 3rd is around 370 vertical feet at about 15% grade.
 
I did 4 today:

Black River Rd, Pottersville

Vertical: 404
Distance: .91
Grade: 8.4%
Average Speed: 8.8

Schooley's Mountain, Long Valley

Vertical: 517
Distance: 1.4
Grade: 7%
Average Speed: 9.5

Zellers, Long Valley

Vertical: 477
Distance: .9
Grade: 10%
Average Speed: 7.2

Beacon Hill, Long Valley

Vertical: 272
Distance: .59
Grade: 8.7%
Average Speed: 8.8

Based on this, the current standings after 4 hills are:

  1. Zellers (477 over .9 miles, 10%, 7.2 mph)
  2. Black River Rd (404 over .91 miles, 8.4%, 8.8 mph)
  3. Beacon Hill (272 over .59 miles, 8.7%, 8.8 mph)
  4. Schooley's Mountain (517 over 1.4 miles, 7%, 9.5 mph)

Any tie goes to the longer hill, thus Black River trumps Beacon Hill. Date from today's ride can be found here, laps 3, 5, 7, and 9.
 
good stuff norm, I am pretty exicted to do this on some of the hills in my area to see how they rate.
 
I have gone up Breakneck Rd by Hidden Valley ski area. It was brutal. :cry: I was told the top is 24%. I got off and walked that top part. That same day I climbed Kain, Skyline both ways and what seemed like endless hills for 90 miles. I thought I would never get home (sorta like a ryderx ride). I do not think I will ever try that again. Call me a wimp, but I prefer longer and less steep hills. Maybe my new bike will change that? :hmmm:
 
stb222 said:
good stuff norm, I am pretty exicted to do this on some of the hills in my area to see how they rate.
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Here's something that was good for me. If you map out the route, you can watch the hill coming at you on the screen. That's a good way to decide where it's going to start and you can hit the lap button. If I'm on a false flat coming into the hill, I don't really start it until the hill starts for real. Having said that, this is more an issue for when you're riding new hills for the first time.

Pixy - I'm not afraid to say that the toughest ones are just not fun at all. Someone said, "If you like Iron Bridge..." In fact I don't like Iron Bridge. It's brutal. Apparently people do hill repeats on Fiddlers to get ready for Mount Washington. That's totally drool worthy...:drooling:
 
kush said:
Norm, where do you get grade %?
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I divide the vertical by the distance and multiply by 100%. No, it's not technically correct but it's close enough. If I really wanted to be precise I could estimate it a little closer by drawing a right angle and making the distance the hypotenuse (are you listening Ryan?) and then getting the real "run" for the equation.

But really these are such small fractions it doesn't much matter. I guess in reality the grades are actually a hair higher than what I calculate.
 
This is a ride I did last week:
http://connect.garmin.com/splits/9908986

The evens are the climbs, with lap #6 being a BS one because I didn't actually know the hill that well. Really these probably shouldn't even be in here but it gets the list closer to 10 and more is always better, right?

Mount Harmony

Vertical: 392
Distance: 1.83
Grade: 4.1%
Average Speed: 11.5

Campbell-Peachcroft Rd

Vertical: 501
Distance: 2.04
Grade: 4.7%
Average Speed: 11.2

Claremont

Vertical: 313
Distance: 1.19
Grade: 5%
Average Speed: 10.1

East Fox Chase

Vertical: 318
Distance: 1.12
Grade: 5.3%
Average Speed: 10.1

Pembrook (Jacob's Ladder)

Vertical: 380
Distance: 1.23
Grade: 5.6%
Average Speed: 9.4

This lot ranks in at:

  1. Pembrook aka Jacob's Ladder (380 over 1.23 miles, 5.6%, 9.4 mph)
  2. East Fox Chase (318 over 1.12 miles, 5.3%, 10.1 mph)
  3. Claremont (313 over 1.19 miles, 5%, 10.1 mph)
  4. Campbell-Peachcroft Rd (501 over 2.04 miles, 4.7%, 11.2 mph)
  5. Mount Harmony (393 over 1.83 miles, 4.1% 11.5 mph)

Overall

  1. Zellers (477 over .9 miles, 10%, 7.2 mph)
  2. Black River Rd (404 over .91 miles, 8.4%, 8.8 mph)
  3. Beacon Hill (272 over .59 miles, 8.7%, 8.8 mph)
  4. Schooley's Mountain (517 over 1.4 miles, 7%, 9.5 mph)
  5. Pembrook aka Jacob's Ladder (380 over 1.23 miles, 5.6%, 9.4 mph)
  6. East Fox Chase (318 over 1.12 miles, 5.3%, 10.1 mph)
  7. Claermont (313 over 1.19 miles, 5%, 10.1 mph)
  8. Campbell-Peachcroft Rd (501 over 2.04 miles, 4.7%, 11.2 mph)
  9. Mount Harmony (393 over 1.83 miles, 4.1% 11.5 mph)
 
If you want real precision you should graph out each hill profile 😀 I started looking into it at lunch, I think I can get the data to actually do it. There is fairly accurate elevation data available for free (coverage includes much of northern NJ) which will be more reliable than GPS elevations.
 
rlb said:
If you want real precision you should graph out each hill profile 😀 I started looking into it at lunch, I think I can get the data to actually do it. There is fairly accurate elevation data available for free (coverage includes much of northern NJ) which will be more reliable than GPS elevations.
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Probably ot really worth it for the little guys. Once the list gets more impressive it might make more sense.
 
Unfortunately that's the Sunday of the 24 hour race. I'd love to do that.

Coleman Hill sounds interesting...
 
Where is Fiddlers Elbow? I rode around Fiddlers Elbow Golf Course today expecting to find a nice climb but didn't find anything.....I rode up Bellis instead, so I still got a nice climb in. I then rode up to RV from Cherry St in Lebanon, which is cake compared to Bellis.

Climbing out of Bloomsbury on Staats is a nice alternative to the Rt579 climb. Long and steady as oppposed to super short and steep.
 
Norm said:
There was a downhill before I started climbing Fiddlers that just went on forever. It was pretty darn steep. I do remember from the map I was going through the town of the same name.

Then after I climbed it, I went down a very, very long time, but not as steeply IIRC. Much wider road and better pavement.

There is also a road called Breakneck in Vernon that I've read about. The guy classifies it as the same as Fiddlers, ranking them both at #1 in the state.
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Breakneck is pure lunacy, steep plus tight road with cars blasting up. My max going down is 52 mph,mainly because of the tightness and off camber of it. Barrett on the other side of the Waway mtn going into Warwick is about 1000' with about 12-15% grade. If I knew how to load my Garmin info it looks like dropping into a crater, then climbing out the other side
 
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