USFS National Forest System Trails · Tahoe National Forest · California · Updated June 2026
Cottonwood Moto Trail (USFS trail 15E29) is a 0.7 mi trail in Tahoe National Forest, California. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Cottonwood Moto Trail?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | Apr–Dec |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | Apr–Dec |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | Apr–Dec |
Zooming out: across Tahoe National Forest, 30% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of C.
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About this trail
In Tahoe National Forest, California, Cottonwood Moto Trail (USFS trail 15E29) covers 0.7 mi of National Forest System trail. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for Tahoe National Forest, covering the trail's mileage, tread, grade band, and the bike and e-bike uses the agency lists as designated. The tread is mapped as native material. Its grade-based difficulty is Easy (grade band 0-5%) — a gentle steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. Note that mountain-bike use here is discouraged in USFS records — confirm with the ranger district before riding. The record additionally permits Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bike use, Apr–Dec; recall that Class 1 is pedal-assist, while Class 2 adds a throttle and Class 3 a higher cutoff speed. 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. Treat this as a planning reference rather than a live conditions report, and verify any time-sensitive closure or order with the ranger district that manages Tahoe National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Cottonwood Moto Trail?
- Mountain-bike use on Cottonwood Moto Trail is discouraged in USFS records, though Class 1 e-bike use is designated. Confirm current rules with the managing ranger district.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Cottonwood Moto Trail?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Cottonwood Moto Trail in the USFS data.
- How long is Cottonwood Moto Trail?
- Cottonwood Moto Trail measures about 0.7 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Cottonwood Moto Trail?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Cottonwood Moto Trail as native material.
- How difficult is Cottonwood Moto Trail?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Easy (grade band 0-5%), 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 Tahoe National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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