USFS National Forest System Trails · Sawtooth National Forest · Idaho · Updated June 2026
Bear Gulch East (USFS trail 7848) is a 1.1 mi trail in Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Bear Gulch East?
| 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 Sawtooth National Forest, 59% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of B.
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About this trail
Bear Gulch East (USFS trail 7848) runs 1.1 mi through Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for Sawtooth 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. USFS slope data puts it in the Easy band (grade band 5-8%), meaning a gentle climb — keep in mind this measures steepness, not trail technicality. Note that mountain-bike use here is discouraged in USFS records — confirm with the ranger district before riding. 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 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 Sawtooth National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Bear Gulch East?
- Mountain-bike use on Bear Gulch East 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 Bear Gulch East?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Bear Gulch East in the USFS data.
- How long is Bear Gulch East?
- Bear Gulch East measures about 1.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Bear Gulch East?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Bear Gulch East as native material.
- How difficult is Bear Gulch East?
- 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 Sawtooth National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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