USFS National Forest System Trails · Caribou-Targhee National Forest · Idaho · Updated June 2026
Elbow Canyon (USFS trail 7497) is a 1.4 mi trail in Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Elbow Canyon?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| 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 Caribou-Targhee National Forest, 98% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of A.
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About this trail
Elbow Canyon (USFS trail 7497) is a 1.4 mi trail in Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho. Everything below comes straight from the US Forest Service National Forest System Trails dataset — length, surface, slope-derived difficulty, and the specific bike and e-bike designations on record — so you can check legality before you load up. The tread is mapped as native material. USFS slope data puts it in the Intermediate band (grade band +8-10%), meaning a moderate climb — keep in mind this measures steepness, not trail technicality. Bike use is designated as allowed year-round. On the electric side, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are also designated — 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 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. For day-of certainty on closures or seasonal orders, check directly with the ranger district, since this reflects the USFS data as of the latest refresh.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Elbow Canyon?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Elbow Canyon in Caribou-Targhee National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Elbow Canyon?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Elbow Canyon in the USFS data.
- How long is Elbow Canyon?
- Elbow Canyon measures about 1.4 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Elbow Canyon?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Elbow Canyon as native material.
- How difficult is Elbow Canyon?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band +8-10%), 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 Caribou-Targhee National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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