USFS National Forest System Trails · Eldorado National Forest · California · Updated June 2026
Whaler Ridge (USFS trail 11E28) is a 1.1 mi trail in Eldorado National Forest, California. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike Whaler Ridge?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | — | |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | — | |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | — |
Zooming out: across Eldorado National Forest, 94% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of A.
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About this trail
In Eldorado National Forest, California, Whaler Ridge (USFS trail 11E28) covers 1.1 mi of National Forest System trail. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for Eldorado National Forest, covering the trail's mileage, tread, grade band, and the bike and e-bike uses the agency lists as designated. USFS records list its surface as native material. Based on slope, this is a Advanced trail (grade band 12-20%); that reflects steep gradient and is not the same as a technical MTB difficulty rating. Bike use is designated as allowed year-round. No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on this trail in the USFS data, so treat it as a non-motorized route unless a posted order says otherwise. The route is mapped as USFS Trail Class 3 on the agency's 1-to-5 development scale, where 1 is the most primitive, minimally maintained tread and 5 is the most developed. For day-of certainty on closures or seasonal orders, check directly with the ranger district, since this reflects the USFS data as of the latest refresh.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Whaler Ridge?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Whaler Ridge in Eldorado National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Whaler Ridge?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on Whaler Ridge in the USFS data.
- How long is Whaler Ridge?
- Whaler Ridge measures about 1.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Whaler Ridge?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Whaler Ridge as native material.
- How difficult is Whaler Ridge?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Advanced (grade band 12-20%), derived from USFS slope data. This reflects steepness, not technical mountain-bike difficulty.
How we read this data
Grade-based difficulty above is the USFS grade (route steepness), not a technical mountain-bike rating — a gentle-grade trail can still be rocky or technical, and vice versa. Bike and e-bike status come verbatim from the USFS managed-use fields for this trail; we never infer access we can't cite. See our methodology for how the dataset is built and what each field means.
Where it is
Approximate location of Eldorado National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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