Any way you measure this one, it’s a tough climb. When it was in the Tour de Georgia the UCI said Hogpen was a Cat 1 climb, so it’s got that going for it…
The pavement is a bit patchy, the road is in the national forest, and I don’t think they maintain it like regular roads. When it snows they just close the road rather than try to keep it clear…
Most of the climb is exposed, and if the sun is out the climb can be brutally hot. There is quite a bit of undulation on this climb, and as you get close to the summit there are a number of ‘false summits’. You think you’ve gotten to the top, but it just goes down for a bit then starts you back climbing.
If you’re doing 6 Gap, Hogpen is made that much harder because it’s the fourth climb of the day, and you start it with around 60 miles in your legs already. ‘The Guide’ lists Hogpen as 4.1 miles long with an average grade of 6.6% and a maximum of 9%, with a gain of 1,431 feet…
Strava puts it at 7 miles long, but that’s from the turn onto Richard Russell, with an average grade of 4.9% and a vertical gain of 1,820 feet…
OK, you’ve made the summit of Hogpen, now what? Well, all that altitude you just gained over the last 4 to 7 miles… you are going to give back in the next 2. ‘The Guide’ says it’s a 10.7% average grade with a maximum of 13%. I can tell you first hand that it’s bloody steep!
When climbing it, my Garmin registered over 20% in several places…
Speaking of climbing the ‘short side’ of Hogpen, Summerson says:
“One of the steepest roads in the US, the west side of Hogpen Gap will test you.”
That may be why it’s not as popular a climb as the east side…
I think the ‘short side’ makes for a good alternate 3 gap ride. If you park at Seth’s store, go over Neel’s in the normal direction, climb Hogpen from the west, turn around at the summit and descend Hogpen in the more common direction, go over the back side of Neel’s, and you’re back at the store…
That’s 43 miles and 5000 feet of vertical…
The ‘regular’ 3 Gap ride from Seth’s store (Neel’s, Wolf Pen, Woody) is 34.5 miles and 3700 feet of climbing…
Descent towards 180 (6 Gap Direction)…
*A word of caution… The descent of the west side of Hog Pen, depicted above, has bitten more than a few cyclists. The cost of a mistake is high, people have died here… The road is steep enough that the speeds are quite high, dealing with those speeds has caused tires to blow and carbon clinchers to come unglued… Literally…
For my $.02 on descending, see my Cutting Corners article …
