USFS National Forest System Trails · Los Padres National Forest · California · Updated June 2026
Red Reef (USFS trail 21W08) is a 13.5 mi trail in Los Padres National Forest, California. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike Red Reef?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Restricted | — |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Restricted | — |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Restricted | — |
Zooming out: across Los Padres National Forest, 51% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of B.
Watch Los Padres National Forest for access changes
Email me when USFS mountain-bike or e-bike designations change for trails in Los Padres National Forest. Free, unsubscribe anytime.
About this trail
Red Reef (USFS trail 21W08) runs 13.5 mi through Los Padres National Forest in California. This profile summarizes what the official US Forest Service trail record says about riding it: how long the trail is, what it's built on, how steep the route grades out, and which forms of bike use the agency has designated. Underfoot, the trail is recorded as native material. Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band 10-12%) — a moderate steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. Mountain bikes are allowed, open year-round in the data. 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 Red Reef?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Red Reef in Los Padres National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Red Reef?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on Red Reef in the USFS data.
- How long is Red Reef?
- Red Reef measures about 13.5 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Red Reef?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Red Reef as native material.
- How difficult is Red Reef?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band 10-12%), 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 Los Padres National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
Where to stay near Los Padres National Forest
Find hotels, cabins, and vacation rentals near Los Padres National Forest — plan your ride.
Top-rated places to stay near Los Padres National Forest
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Riding Los Padres National Forest?
Trail-access updates and trip ideas by email.
More trails in Los Padres National Forest
19 mi · Intermediate grade
12.1 mi · Intermediate grade
11.5 mi · Intermediate grade
10.1 mi · Intermediate grade
9.6 mi · Intermediate grade
9.5 mi · Intermediate grade