Dear Action Line: I am ecstatic to finally get an e-bike and continue to ride all the beautiful trails in Durango. But I was sadly disappointed that I cannot actually ride my pedal-assist bike on most of them because of the restrictions. I am confused. I thought the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service allowed pedal-assist bikes on their trails? Cortez, Dolores, Farmington, Aztec and many other areas seem OK; why not the Durango mountain bike mecca? Maybe Action Line knows the answers? – Theresa
Dear Theresa: The bad news is that you’re essentially correct: Not a lot of natural surface trails are open to e-bikes around Durango. The good news is that there are a few it’s possible you’re not aware of.
The future, meanwhile, is open to changes, and we’ll get to that possibility as well.
Action Line does see e-bikes around, some riding legally, others illegally. This debate about where they’re appropriate will rage on probably until the end of time. Or at least until the killer asteroid hits our planet in the year … oops, you’re not supposed to know about that.
Moving on.
Trails around here cross city, county, state and federal lands, and that can cause some consternation and confusion for both riders and planners. Let’s start with the BLM.
Action Line had a good, long chat about the issue with a very patient Jeff Christenson, Outdoor Recreation Planner Travel Management Lead with the BLM’s state office. He is stationed in Dolores.
In summary, the BLM and USFS declared in 2020 and 2022, respectively, that natural-surface trails can potentially be opened to motorized use such as e-bikes, but only if the local field office manager issues a decision to make that change. So, the “default” is that they remain closed to e-bikes.
Typically this process of opening trails to e-bikes is not a quick one. Managing motorized usage occurs with the BLM’s Resource Management Plans, Christenson said. And how specific roads and trails are managed for various uses generally is spelled out in the agency’s Travel Management Plans.
“Both plans have long shelf lives (10 to 20 years), but both can be reassessed or amended as needed,” Christenson said. “Travel Management Plans are simpler to update,” although the process still involves community input and, in many cases, a National Environmental Policy Act – NEPA – review.
So, if you are a proponent (or opponent) of more e-bike availability, it’s best to be involved in these planning processes when they occur. Durango’s latest travel plan for BLM lands was issued in December 2020.
Trails and trail systems around Durango that use BLM lands, partially or fully, include Animas City Mountain and the Grandview Ridge trails Sale Barn, Big Canyon, Sidewinder, South Rim and Cowboy.
The BLM has opened some Mancos- and Cortez-area trails to e-bikes – the Class 1 version, which are pedal assist up to a maximum of 20 mph. Examples are Chutes and Ladders, just down the hill west of the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park, the Aqueduct trails northwest of Mancos, and Mud Springs just west of the Cortez airport off the McElmo Canyon road.
But around Durango? The BLM has opened nothing yet.
So what is open around Durango? Here are a couple places where Class 1 e-bikes are allowed on natural surface trails: Twin Buttes, which is city of Durango open space just west of downtown; and many of the Durango Mesa Park trails south of and adjacent to Horse Gulch. Horse Gulch trails are not open to e-bikes.
The city allows both Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on hard-surface trails such as the Animas River Trail, the paths along Florida Road and Goeglein Gulch Road, and the SMART 160 Trail, which within a few years should be completed between Durango and Three Springs. Class 2 e-bikes have motors that can propel a bike without pedal assistance. (Another category, Class 3 e-bikes, are pedal-assisted up to 28 mph.)
Owen Tallmadge, Durango Parks and Recreation’s natural resources manager, noted that the complexities of land ownership and conservation easements contribute to confusion over where e-bikes are allowed.
Horse Gulch, along with Overend and Dalla mountain parks – which contain the majority of city-managed natural surface trails – all include conservation easements that do not currently permit e-bike use, Tallmadge said. Amending these easements “would be a lengthy and legally arduous process with uncertain outcomes,” he noted.
There are no conservation easements at Twin Buttes Open Space, and the trails are fully on city land.
The city’s webpage regarding e-bikes has much more information: www.durangogov.org/electricbikes. It includes a link to San Juan National Forest e-bike options.
There are not a lot of Forest Service trails right next to Durango, but certainly many are in the vicinity. Among those open to e-bikes are Hermosa Creek, Jones Creek and Pinkerton-Flagstaff. The Colorado Trail, Hoffheins and Dry Fork are not. There are also several e-bike options at Purgatory Ski Resort.
The BLM’s helpful webpage on e-bikes: blm.gov/programs/recreation/e-bikes.
Hopefully that gives everyone a good, big-picture look at the situation. And maybe we all learned something today. Maybe too much?
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Remember when it was really rad just to have a front shock?
