USFS National Forest System Trails · National Forests in North Carolina · North Carolina · Updated June 2026
Cat Gap Loop (USFS trail TR120) is a 4.6 mi trail in National Forests in North Carolina, North Carolina. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed, Jan–Apr, Oct–Dec, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike Cat Gap Loop?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | Jan–Apr, Oct–Dec |
| 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 National Forests in North Carolina, 88% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of A.
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About this trail
Cat Gap Loop (USFS trail TR120) is a 4.6 mi trail in National Forests in North Carolina, North Carolina. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for National Forests in North Carolina, covering the trail's mileage, tread, grade band, and the bike and e-bike uses the agency lists as 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. Mountain bikes are allowed, with a Jan–Apr, Oct–Dec season in the data. 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 3 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 Cat Gap Loop?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on Cat Gap Loop in National Forests in North Carolina, typically Jan–Apr, Oct–Dec, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on Cat Gap Loop?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on Cat Gap Loop in the USFS data.
- How long is Cat Gap Loop?
- Cat Gap Loop measures about 4.6 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Cat Gap Loop?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Cat Gap Loop as native material.
- How difficult is Cat Gap Loop?
- 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 National Forests in North Carolina (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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