USFS National Forest System Trails · San Juan National Forest · Colorado · Updated June 2026
Turkey Creek (USFS trail 580) is a 19.7 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 Turkey Creek?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | May–Nov |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | May–Nov |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | May–Nov |
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
Turkey Creek (USFS trail 580) runs 19.7 mi through San Juan 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. 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. The record additionally permits Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bike use, May–Nov; 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. 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 Turkey Creek?
- Mountain-bike use on Turkey Creek 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 Turkey Creek?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Turkey Creek in the USFS data.
- How long is Turkey Creek?
- Turkey Creek measures about 19.7 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Turkey Creek?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Turkey Creek as native material.
- How difficult is Turkey Creek?
- 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 San Juan National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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