Back
Oakville Grade and Trinity Road, Mayacamas Mountains, California
Photo: Stan Shebs · CC BY-SA 3.0

Drives California The North Bay

Oakville Grade and Trinity Road

Oakville Grade · Oakville → Glen Ellen

Intense10.5 mi25 min2,100 ft climbHigh point ≈ 1,800 ftOne way
Scan to drive it in CarvePoint a phone's camera here. It opens ready to drive.
Drive it in Carve, free

Opens this route in the app, or where to get it.

Drive this road
in the appOpen

The drive

Oakville Grade and Trinity Road make the short, steep crossing of the Mayacamas Mountains between the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The drive leaves Highway 29 at Oakville and goes straight up: Oakville Grade is one of the steepest roads in Napa County, and the Napa Valley vineyards fall away behind you as it climbs.

At the top it passes the junction with Dry Creek Road and Mount Veeder Road and carries straight on into Sonoma County as Trinity Road, which winds down through oak woods to Highway 12 near Glen Ellen. Trinity Road continues across Highway 12 as West Trinity Road; the drive ends just before the junction.

It's driven from the Napa side so the steepest part is a climb and the views come over your shoulder and from the summit. The descent on Trinity Road is the twistier half.

Along the way

  1. Oakville (Highway 29)
  2. Glen Ellen (Highway 12)
Elevation
2,100 ft of climbing · high point ≈ 1,800 ft
OakvilleGlen Ellen
Curves
Twisty most of the way
OakvilleGlen Ellen
GentleHairpins

Good to know

  • Semis longer than 38 feet are banned on Trinity Road and Oakville Grade, after trucks got stuck on the sharp bends and closed the road for hours.
  • Oakville Grade is very steep near the Highway 29 end, the sort of grade that's hard on brakes coming down and slow for cyclists going up.
  • Crashes and repairs close the road now and then, usually without much warning; the Napa County Sheriff's Office announces closures.

Open all year, weather permitting. Roads close for snow, fire, storms and repairs: before you set off, check Sonoma County road conditions.

Questions about this drive

How long does Oakville Grade to Glen Ellen take?

Oakville Grade and Trinity Road, from Highway 29 at Oakville to Highway 12 near Glen Ellen, is 10.5 miles and takes about 25 minutes.

Can trucks use Oakville Grade and Trinity Road?

Semis longer than 38 feet are banned on Oakville Grade and Trinity Road. Napa and Sonoma counties both adopted the ban after long trucks jackknifed on the curves.

How steep is Oakville Grade?

Oakville Grade is one of the steepest roads in Napa County, climbing hard for about a mile out of Oakville before it eases toward the Mount Veeder junction.

Is Oakville Grade a good way from Napa to Sonoma?

Oakville Grade and Trinity Road are the most direct crossing of the Mayacamas from Oakville to Glen Ellen, but they're narrow, twisty and steep, and much slower than they look on a map.

What you get in the app

Turn by turn, on this roadSpoken directions along the exact route. Carve never reroutes you onto a faster one.
Preview it in 3DFly the whole drive over satellite and terrain before you go.
Drive it with no signalAPEXDownload the map and every turn before you go.
Live Group TrackingAPEXEveryone on the route, on the map, by name.
Road conditionsAPEXWet or dry, ice, fog and wind along the road before you go.
Record your drivesAPEXRecord a drive and turn it into a route to drive again or share.

Free on iPhone and Android. CarPlay and Android Auto come with Apex.

Download on theApp StoreEarly access onGoogle Play

More drives near here

All 126 drives in California ›

Distance, time, elevation, curves and intensity are from Carve's route. Checked 2026-10-28.

+ Plan a new route
Map of Oakville Grade and Trinity Road, from Oakville to Glen Ellen