But if the hill is full of sharp curves, then you have to slow down to go around the curves. On a long straight stretch of hill, you can just put it in a lower gear and let the engine do much of the work of getting you up or down the hill. How do the number of curves and sharpness of the curves affect me? I took this graphic from the Mountain Directory West and it explains that a 10% grade means that you climb or descend 10 feet for every 100 feet of travel. Carried to it’s extreme, a 30% grade means you go up or down almost 1600 feet in a mile. If you climb or descend 370 feet, that’s a 7% grade, or if you climb or descend 264 feet that’s a 5% grade. A mile is 5,280 feet, so if you drive 1 mile, and climb or descend 528 feet in that mile, it’s a 10% grade. Because very few of us think in terms of 100 feet at a time, a more practical way for Americans to think is in miles. If you travel 100 feet, and you climb or descend 10 feet, that’s a grade of 10%.

If you drive 100 feet and you climb or descend 6 feet in that distance, then that grade is 6%.

Grades are measured in units of 100 feet. What is a “Grade,” and what do the percentages mean? In this post, I want to explain all that. If you’ve driven for long, at some time or another you’ve come to a sign that said something like, “ 7% Grade next 5 miles, Trucks Use Low Gears” You probably know that means there is a hill coming up, but you didn’t really understand exactly what it meant, how it will affect you or how it compares to other grades.

Laurel mountains grade percentages