USFS National Forest System Trails · Flathead National Forest · Montana · Updated June 2026
Tu Minnie Chief (USFS trail 45T) is a 1.5 mi trail in Flathead National Forest, Montana. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed, May–Oct, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike Tu Minnie Chief?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | May–Oct |
| 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 Flathead National Forest, 27% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of C.
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About this trail
Tu Minnie Chief (USFS trail 45T) is a 1.5 mi trail in Flathead National Forest, Montana. 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 Easy (grade band 0-5%) — a gentle steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. Bike use is designated as allowed, typically May–Oct. The agency lists no Class 1, 2 or 3 e-bike designation here; absent a local order to the contrary, that means e-bikes are not an allowed use on this trail. 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 Flathead National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Tu Minnie Chief?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Tu Minnie Chief in Flathead National Forest, typically May–Oct, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Tu Minnie Chief?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on Tu Minnie Chief in the USFS data.
- How long is Tu Minnie Chief?
- Tu Minnie Chief measures about 1.5 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Tu Minnie Chief?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Tu Minnie Chief as native material.
- How difficult is Tu Minnie Chief?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Easy (grade band 0-5%), 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 Flathead National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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