USFS National Forest System Trails · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Montana · Updated June 2026
Middle Cottonwood (USFS trail 586) is a 1.2 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 Middle Cottonwood?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Oct |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Oct |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | Jun–Oct |
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
In Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana, Middle Cottonwood (USFS trail 586) covers 1.2 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. 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. Bike use is designated as allowed year-round. The record additionally permits Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bike use, Jun–Oct; 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 4 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 Custer Gallatin National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Middle Cottonwood?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Middle Cottonwood in Custer Gallatin National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Middle Cottonwood?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Middle Cottonwood in the USFS data.
- How long is Middle Cottonwood?
- Middle Cottonwood measures about 1.2 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Middle Cottonwood?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Middle Cottonwood as native material.
- How difficult is Middle Cottonwood?
- 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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