USFS National Forest System Trails · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · Virginia · Updated June 2026
German Wilson (USFS trail 1038) is a 1.2 mi trail in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, Virginia. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed year-round, with no Class 1 e-bike designation on record.
Can I bike German Wilson?
| Use | Status | Season on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain bike | Allowed | year-round |
| 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 George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, 90% of rideable trail miles are open to mountain bikes — a Bike Access Grade of A.
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About this trail
German Wilson (USFS trail 1038) runs 1.2 mi through George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. 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. Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band +10-12%) — a moderate steepness profile derived from USFS slope data, not a technical mountain-bike rating. Mountain bikes are allowed, open year-round 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 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. 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 German Wilson?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on German Wilson in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on German Wilson?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on German Wilson in the USFS data.
- How long is German Wilson?
- German Wilson measures about 1.2 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of German Wilson?
- USFS data records the tread surface of German Wilson as native material.
- How difficult is German Wilson?
- Its grade-based difficulty is Intermediate (grade band +10-12%), 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 George Washington and Jefferson National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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