USFS National Forest System Trails · George Washington and Jefferson National Forest · Virginia · Updated June 2026
North Mountain (USFS trail 263) is a 13.5 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 North Mountain?
| 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
North Mountain (USFS trail 263) runs 13.5 mi through George Washington and Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. The figures here are pulled from the official US Forest Service trail data for George Washington and Jefferson 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. 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. 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 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 North Mountain?
- Yes. Mountain bikes are designated as allowed on North Mountain in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, year-round, per USFS data.
- Are e-bikes allowed on North Mountain?
- No e-bike class (1, 2 or 3) is designated on North Mountain in the USFS data.
- How long is North Mountain?
- North Mountain measures about 13.5 mi in total, summed across its mapped National Forest System segments.
- What is the surface of North Mountain?
- USFS data records the tread surface of North Mountain as native material.
- How difficult is North Mountain?
- 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 George Washington and Jefferson National Forest (USFS trail geometry isn't mapped).
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