USFS National Forest System Trails · Salmon-Challis National Forest · Idaho · Updated June 2026
Basin Butte-Prospect Creek (USFS trail 4038) is a 4.9 mi trail in Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Basin Butte-Prospect 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 Salmon-Challis National Forest, 26% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of C.
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About this trail
In Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho, Basin Butte-Prospect Creek (USFS trail 4038) covers 4.9 mi of National Forest System trail. 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. Based on slope, this is a Advanced trail (grade band +12-20%); that reflects steep gradient and is not the same as a technical MTB difficulty 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; 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. 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 Salmon-Challis National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Basin Butte-Prospect Creek?
- Mountain-bike use on Basin Butte-Prospect 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 Basin Butte-Prospect Creek?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Basin Butte-Prospect Creek in the USFS data.
- How long is Basin Butte-Prospect Creek?
- Basin Butte-Prospect Creek measures about 4.9 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Basin Butte-Prospect Creek?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Basin Butte-Prospect Creek as native material.
- How difficult is Basin Butte-Prospect 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 Salmon-Challis National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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