USFS National Forest System Trails · Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest · Colorado · Updated June 2026
Prospector (USFS trail 1156.1) is a 8.8 mi trail in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, Colorado. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Prospector?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Oct |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Oct |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Oct |
Zooming out: across Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, 14% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of D.
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About this trail
Prospector (USFS trail 1156.1) runs 8.8 mi through Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado. 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 Advanced (grade band 12-20%) — a steep 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. On the electric side, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are also designated (Jul–Oct) — 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 Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Prospector?
- Mountain-bike use on Prospector 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 Prospector?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Prospector in the USFS data.
- How long is Prospector?
- Prospector measures about 8.8 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Prospector?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Prospector as native material.
- How difficult is Prospector?
- 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 Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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