Next time you’re biking Fruita or Moab, you might have some e-company. In April, land managers in Moab began opening more than 200 miles of mountain bike trails to e-bikes, marking one of the largest e-bike expansions in the West. (The BLM opened the popular 18 Road area outside Fruita in 2019 to e-bikes and expanded e-bike access to 29 miles of trails in the North Fruita desert in 2022.) Meanwhile, the BLM’s Colorado River Valley Field Office is vetting a plan to open 220 miles to e-bikes, up from the area’s current 18 miles, allowing Class 1 e-bikes on trails across its jurisdiction spanning Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties — including trail systems Crown, Red Hill and Hardscrabble, along with other networks around Eagle, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, New Castle and Rifle. In a news release, Field Manager Lisa Dawson said that “local mountain bike groups” asked about expanding Class 1 e-bike access back in 2024 and that “feedback showed there was enough interest for us to move forward with an environmental assessment.” “When it makes sense, we work to improve access so everyone can enjoy our great trail systems,” the release stated.
