USFS National Forest System Trails · San Juan National Forest · Colorado · Updated June 2026
Baldy Loop (USFS trail 697) is a 4.4 mi trail in San Juan National Forest, Colorado. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Baldy Loop?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Aug, November |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Aug, November |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Aug, November |
Zooming out: across San Juan National Forest, 29% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of C.
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About this trail
Baldy Loop (USFS trail 697) is a 4.4 mi trail in San Juan National Forest, Colorado. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for San Juan 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. Its grade-based difficulty is Easy (grade band +5-8%) — a gentle steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. For traditional mountain bikes, use is discouraged according to USFS data. The record additionally permits Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bike use, Jun–Aug, November; 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 2 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 San Juan National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Baldy Loop?
- Mountain-bike use on Baldy Loop 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 Baldy Loop?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Baldy Loop in the USFS data.
- How long is Baldy Loop?
- Baldy Loop measures about 4.4 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Baldy Loop?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Baldy Loop as native material.
- How difficult is Baldy Loop?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Easy (grade band +5-8%), 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 San Juan National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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