USFS National Forest System Trails · Rio Grande National Forest · Colorado · Updated June 2026
Sawmill Gulch (USFS trail 759) is a 2.1 mi trail in Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Sawmill Gulch?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
Zooming out: across Rio Grande National Forest, 0% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of F.
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About this trail
Sawmill Gulch (USFS trail 759) is a 2.1 mi trail in Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for Rio Grande National Forest, covering the trail's mileage, tread, grade band, and the bike and e-bike uses the agency lists as designated. Underfoot, the trail is recorded as native material. USFS slope data puts it in the Advanced band (grade band 12-20%), meaning a steep climb — keep in mind this measures steepness, not trail technicality. 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; 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. Because conditions, closures, and local orders change between data refreshes, confirm the current status with the managing ranger district before you ride.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Sawmill Gulch?
- Mountain-bike use on Sawmill Gulch 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 Sawmill Gulch?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Sawmill Gulch in the USFS data.
- How long is Sawmill Gulch?
- Sawmill Gulch measures about 2.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Sawmill Gulch?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Sawmill Gulch as native material.
- How difficult is Sawmill Gulch?
- 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 Rio Grande National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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