United Kingdom Challacombe Hill (SW #7)
Challacombe Hill (SW #7) Bike Climb - PJAMM Cycling

5.1
PDI
0.8 mi
DISTANCE
524 ft
GAINED
12.6 %
AVG. GRADE
FULL CLIMB STATS
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INTRO

Challacombe Hill Road is Climb #7 of Simon Warren's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs (Great Britain) and is a short but very steep climb out of Woolacombe in the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  

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This climb's average grade is 12.5% with 0 descent. 29% of the climb is at 10-15% grade and 53% is at 15-20%. The steepest 500 meters is 16%.  

See more details and tools regarding this climb's grade via the “Profile Tool” button.
Roadway:  The road is a very narrow two to only one lane road with no center striping with good pavement. 

Traffic:  Mild.

Parking:  Sandy Burrows Car Park at the start of the climb (Map; Street View).
Provisions:  None on the route but many in Woolacombe where the climb begins. 
Before heading out on any cycling adventure check out our Things to Bring on a Cycling Trip and use our interactive check list to ensure you don't forget anything.
This climb is out of Woolacombe which is a popular seaside resort on the coast of North Devon with a five kilometer sandy, gently sloping beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The area is part of North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  This ride, and others in the area, can easily be turned into a seaside vacation.  Woolacombe Beach gets many and excellent reviews (Google Map + Reviews). 

Use the “Routes in Area” button on the menu bar to see other bike climbs in this area. 

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CLIMB SUMMARY

Cycling Challacombe Hill - sunset over water, rolling hills in foreground, Simon Warren's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs #7 Logo in corner     

Cycling Challacombe Hill, Devon, England.

Time this ride just right and you’ll have a magnificent sunset along the way.             

Cycling Challacombe Hill - photo collage, trail lined with tall grasses leading to hillside, white sign stating "The National Trust Woolacombe Warren", hedges growing along sides of pathway, pathway leading toward costal village, sunset over water       

Cycling Challacombe Hill - very steep, very narrow roadway lined with tall grasses, roadway is leading up from a costal village dotted with white buildings and homes, sunset over water in background

This is a brief climb leaving essentially from the waters of Bristol Bay in the coastal resort village of Woolacombe.  While this climb is short at 1.3 kilometers, most of it is quite stout (15% from 200 meters to 1.1 kilometers).  The climb gives us some magnificent views of Bristol Channel.

Cycling Challacombe Hill - photo collage, shoreline with gentle waves at sunset, sign for "Sandy Burrows Car Park" "Welcome to Woolacombe's Award Winning Beach"

Woolacombe is named by TripAdvisor as one of the best family friendly beaches in U.K.

Cycling Challacombe Hill - bike parked against road sign for 23% grade noting "Low gear for 1/2 mile", PJAMM Cycling jersey draped over bike, hillside at golden hour with sun setting over water in background

A short but steep climb to the finish at the top of the hill.

Challacombe Hill hosted the British National Hill Climb Championships in 1985 (Darryl Webster wins the third of his four consecutive championships this year).  This climb is in the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Cycling Challacombe Hill - sun at various stages of setting over water, hillsides in foreground

 

Steepest ½ kilometer begins at 300m (16%)

100 Hills for George writes of this climb:

“This one is a beautiful road heading out of town, not the main road that takes you back "East" and to civilisation (well, the rest of the country), but one that hugs the coast and climbs up much steeper. As you climb up you have the beach to the back and right of you, the town to the left of you and a blinking steep hill in front of you..

It isn't a massively long climb, Simon says you should do it in around 8 minutes and I had the benefit of a decent tail wind so managed it in 7 (which was good as I have my winter legs on at the moment), but it is steep, steep, steep all the way up. Once it kicks in (which it does pretty quickly) it is all at 15% and above.

Even reaches 25% at one point, although I never saw it above 23% on my garmin, but it is well worth it, especially for the decent as you get amazing views over Woolacombe and over the sea. On a day like today, well worth it (and then the dog had the BEST play on the beach).”