USFS National Forest System Trails · Black Hills National Forest · South Dakota · Updated June 2026
Ditch Creek 40 (USFS trail 6040) is a 0.7 mi trail in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. Mountain-bike use here is accepted but discouraged in USFS data, with Class 1 e-bikes also designated.
Can I bike Ditch Creek 40?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Accepted but discouraged | — |
| Class 1 e-bike (pedal-assist, 20 mph) | Allowed | May–Dec |
| Class 2 e-bike (throttle, 20 mph) | Allowed | May–Dec |
| Class 3 e-bike (pedal-assist, 28 mph) | Allowed | May–Dec |
Zooming out: across Black Hills National Forest, 34% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of C.
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About this trail
Ditch Creek 40 (USFS trail 6040) is a 0.7 mi trail in Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for Black Hills National Forest, covering the trail's mileage, tread, grade band, and the bike and e-bike uses the agency lists as designated. USFS records list its surface as native material. Based on slope, this is a Intermediate trail (grade band 8-10%); that reflects moderate 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 (May–Dec) — 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. 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 Ditch Creek 40?
- Mountain-bike use on Ditch Creek 40 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 Ditch Creek 40?
- Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 e-bikes are designated on Ditch Creek 40 in the USFS data.
- How long is Ditch Creek 40?
- Ditch Creek 40 measures about 0.7 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of Ditch Creek 40?
- USFS data records the tread surface of Ditch Creek 40 as native material.
- How difficult is Ditch Creek 40?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band 8-10%), 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 Black Hills National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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