USFS National Forest System Trails · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Montana · Updated June 2026
South Cottonwood (USFS trail 422) is a 11.9 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 South 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, South Cottonwood (USFS trail 422) covers 11.9 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. The tread is mapped as native material. Its grade-based difficulty is Advanced (grade band +12-20%) — a steep steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike 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. 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 South Cottonwood?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on South Cottonwood in Custer Gallatin National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on South Cottonwood?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on South Cottonwood in the USFS data.
- How long is South Cottonwood?
- South Cottonwood measures about 11.9 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of South Cottonwood?
- USFS data records the tread surface of South Cottonwood as native material.
- How difficult is South 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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