USFS National Forest System Trails · Carson National Forest · New Mexico · Updated June 2026
Cordova Canyon (USFS trail 17) is a 3.3 mi trail in Carson National Forest, New Mexico. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed, Mar–Nov, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike Cordova Canyon?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | Mar–Nov |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | — | |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | — | |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | — |
Zooming out: across Carson National Forest, 78% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of A.
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About this trail
Cordova Canyon (USFS trail 17) is a 3.3 mi trail in Carson National Forest, New Mexico. 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. USFS records list its surface as native material. USFS slope data puts it in the Advanced band (grade band 12-20%), meaning a steep climb — keep in mind this measures steepness, not trail technicality. Bike use is designated as allowed, typically Mar–Nov. 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 Cordova Canyon?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Cordova Canyon in Carson National Forest, typically Mar–Nov, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Cordova Canyon?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on Cordova Canyon in the USFS data.
- How long is Cordova Canyon?
- Cordova Canyon measures about 3.3 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Cordova Canyon?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Cordova Canyon as native material.
- How difficult is Cordova Canyon?
- 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 Carson National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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