USFS National Forest System Trails · Tahoe National Forest · California · Updated June 2026
Tamarack Lake (USFS trail 12E33) is a 0.9 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 Tamarack Lake?
| 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
Tamarack Lake (USFS trail 12E33) runs 0.9 mi through Tahoe National Forest in California. 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. USFS records list its surface as native material. Its grade-based difficulty is Advanced (grade band 12-20%) — a steep steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. For traditional mountain bikes, use is discouraged according to USFS data. On the electric side, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are also designated (Apr–Dec) — Class 1 being pedal-assist only, Classes 2 and 3 adding a throttle and higher assisted 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 Tamarack Lake?
- Mountain-bike use on Tamarack Lake 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 Tamarack Lake?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Tamarack Lake in the USFS data.
- How long is Tamarack Lake?
- Tamarack Lake measures about 0.9 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Tamarack Lake?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Tamarack Lake as native material.
- How difficult is Tamarack Lake?
- 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 Tahoe National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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