USFS National Forest System Trails · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Montana · Updated June 2026
Lizard Lakes (USFS trail 63) is a 7.1 mi trail in Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Lizard Lakes?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Dec |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Dec |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | Jul–Dec |
Zooming out: across Custer Gallatin 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
Lizard Lakes (USFS trail 63) is a 7.1 mi trail in Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana. 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. 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. Bike use is designated as allowed year-round. On the electric side, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are also designated (Jul–Dec) — 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 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. 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 Lizard Lakes?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Lizard Lakes in Custer Gallatin National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Lizard Lakes?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Lizard Lakes in the USFS data.
- How long is Lizard Lakes?
- Lizard Lakes measures about 7.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Lizard Lakes?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Lizard Lakes as native material.
- How difficult is Lizard Lakes?
- 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 Custer Gallatin National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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