USFS National Forest System Trails · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Montana · Updated June 2026
North Cottonwood (USFS trail 545) is a 11.1 mi trail in Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike North Cottonwood?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Restricted | — |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Restricted | — |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Restricted | — |
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, North Cottonwood (USFS trail 545) covers 11.1 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. No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on this trail in the USFS data, so treat it as a non-motorized route unless a posted order says otherwise. The route is mapped as USFS Trail Class 2 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 North Cottonwood?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on North Cottonwood in Custer Gallatin National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on North Cottonwood?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on North Cottonwood in the USFS data.
- How long is North Cottonwood?
- North Cottonwood measures about 11.1 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of North Cottonwood?
- USFS data records the tread surface of North Cottonwood as native material.
- How difficult is North 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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