USFS National Forest System Trails · Sawtooth National Forest · Idaho · Updated June 2026
Gardner Gulch (USFS trail 7980) is a 3.1 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 Gardner Gulch?
| 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 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
Gardner Gulch (USFS trail 7980) is a 3.1 mi trail in Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho. 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. Underfoot, the trail is recorded 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. 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; 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. 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 Gardner Gulch?
- Mountain-bike use on Gardner Gulch 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 Gardner Gulch?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Gardner Gulch in the USFS data.
- How long is Gardner Gulch?
- Gardner Gulch measures about 3.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Gardner Gulch?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Gardner Gulch as native material.
- How difficult is Gardner Gulch?
- 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 Sawtooth National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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