USFS National Forest System Trails · Santa Fe National Forest · New Mexico · Updated June 2026
Mule Train (USFS trail 821) is a 3.9 mi trail in Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Mule Train?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | year-round |
Zooming out: across Santa Fe National Forest, 63% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of B.
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About this trail
Mule Train (USFS trail 821) is a 3.9 mi trail in Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Everything below comes straight from the US Forest Service National Forest System Trails dataset — length, surface, slope-derived difficulty, and the specific bike and e-bike designations on record — so you can check legality before you load up. The tread is mapped as native material. Based on slope, this is a Easy trail (grade band +0-5%); that reflects gentle gradient and is not the same as a technical MTB difficulty rating. Note that mountain-bike use here is discouraged in USFS records — confirm with the ranger district before riding. On the electric side, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are also designated — Class 1 being pedal-assist only, Classes 2 and 3 adding a throttle and higher assisted speed. The route is mapped as USFS Trail Class 1 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 Santa Fe National Forest.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you mountain bike on Mule Train?
- Mountain-bike use on Mule Train is discouraged in USFS records, though Class 1 e-bike use is designated. Confirm current rules with the managing ranger district.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Mule Train?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Mule Train in the USFS data.
- How long is Mule Train?
- Mule Train measures about 3.9 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Mule Train?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Mule Train as native material.
- How difficult is Mule Train?
- 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 Santa Fe National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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