Skyline Road

4th category climb

Length: 2.5km
Average gradient: 5.8%
Elevation gain: 144m

View from the Skyline Road climb.

Introduction

A few kilometres west of Yarra Glen, the climb up to Skyline Road is short but surprisingly steep. Great scenery and fantastic views of the Yarra Valley make this climb well worth the effort.

The start

The climb to Skyline Road begins at the small white bridge on the Eltham Yarra Glen Road (C726), around 1.3km from its intersection with the Melba Highway.

Start of the Skyline Road climb.

The finish

The climb to Skyline Road ends, unsurprisingly, at Skyline Road. Be aware that Skyline Road intersects the Eltham Yarra Glen Road on both the right and left. The climb ends when Skyline Road is on your left, some 200m after passing it on the right.

End of the climb to Skyline Road.

At a glance

  • A short but reasonably steep climb with a largely consistent gradient.
  • The road flattens off slightly at the right-hand hairpin 800m into the climb.
  • The final 400m of the climb are flatter than the first 2km.

Climb details

At only 2.4km in length, the climb to Skyline Road is short but sweet. You’ll start climbing a few hundred metres before the official start at the white bridge and upon reaching the bridge, you’ll find that the first 500m of the climb itself are quite steep. After the steep start, the road flattens out slightly as it heads around a sharp hairpin right at the 800m mark.

After the hairpin, the road resumes a gradient of around 7% which is maintained for the next kilometre or so. Short flatter sections in the climb’s second kilometer allow you to catch a glimpse of the fantastic view over the Yarra Valley.

Two kilometres into the climb the road flattens out, allowing you to pick up some momentum for the last 400m to the finish.

Profile

Location

The climb to Skyline Road is located on the outskirts of Yarra Glen, on the Eltham Yarra Glen Road (C726). From Yarra Glen, take the Melba Highway (B300) north for a couple hundred metres before turning left onto Eltham Yarra Glen Road (C726). The white bridge which designates the start of the climb is 1.3km from the turn-off.

Yarra Glen is a good 50km from Melbourne through the leafy north-east, or around 60km through Lilydale and then north along the Melba Highway (B300).

Times

A Strava segment for this climb, which starts at Steels Creek Road, can be found here.

11 Replies to “Skyline Road”

  1. Nice climb with awesome views of the valley on the way down, afterwards i turned left at Melba Highway went up to Kinglake did a bit of a loop then headed to Eltham.

  2. If you want to turn this climb into a great loop, I recommend turning right at Kangaroo Ground, make your way to St. Andrews & come back along Buttermans track.

  3. I did this last Saturday and it was nice but bloody hot. I did it as part of my ride from Lilydale to Warrandyte. Must say I think I will give it a go when its cooler and attack it. I did find the roads a bit rough and I do prefer the dandy’s for climbing but its a nice one to tick off the list

  4. Weird, the climb called “Skyline Rd” isn’t actually on Skyline Rd? We did this one last night, en route back to Melbourne. Hadn’t decided whether to go north or south around the reservoir, then got to the point shown in the photo, said “F that” and stuck on the south side 🙂

  5. Great little climb with some really nice views – even better on the way down the other side! Coming back to Melbourne through Warrandyte was a joy as well.

  6. This is a “Short and Sweet” climb but should be left to a Sunday morning as its a little hairy with heavier traffic periods. The nice long descent down the other side is a real cherry on the top of a good ride around that region. Well worth a go if you have not riden this one.

  7. Looks good on the photos but in reality you get chased by trucks and tradies all the way – and with no shoulder its pretty stressful.

    1. I ride this hill regularly and while it’s quite busy it does not seem like a problem to me – certainly not on the way up.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *