USFS National Forest System Trails · Payette National Forest · Idaho · Updated June 2026
Elkhorn Creek (USFS trail 115) is a 9.6 mi trail in Payette National Forest, Idaho. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Elkhorn Creek?
| 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 Payette National Forest, 20% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of D.
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About this trail
In Payette National Forest, Idaho, Elkhorn Creek (USFS trail 115) covers 9.6 mi of National Forest System trail. 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. USFS records list its surface as native material. No grade band is recorded, so a steepness-based difficulty isn't available for this trail. For traditional mountain bikes, use is discouraged according to USFS data. 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. 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 Elkhorn Creek?
- Mountain-bike use on Elkhorn 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 Elkhorn Creek?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Elkhorn Creek in the USFS data.
- How long is Elkhorn Creek?
- Elkhorn Creek measures about 9.6 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Elkhorn Creek?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Elkhorn Creek as native material.
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 Payette National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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