The decision is in from the Forest Service:
Of the over 500 miles of singletrack maintained by COTA, about 320 miles of trails are in the Deschutes National Forest (DNF). As of December 2025, it is now allowed to use Class 1 pedal-assist e-bikes on 160 miles of those trails.
Feels like this is on the right side of history. This just opens up the physical activity of mountain biking to more people (like me) and makes it more fun for others. Like how they stock lakes with fish… because it’s fun. This isn’t a fundamental shift to the trails, like allowing motorcycles on them would be. This is a more subtle, and welcome change. I don’t give a shit if I’m side-eyed on trails for riding my eMTB, but it’s nice to not be breaking the rules.
Thoughts?
Email me or comment below.
Also CodePen PRO is quite a deal. 🙏
There’s been a big war of eMTBs in my collegiate home of Marquette, MI too. I hope they come to the same conclusion. However, I also wish we maybe had to take a class or pass a light test before going mountain biking like you would with fishing or motorcycle riding, because many MTBers (not just the e- prefixed ones!) could learn a little more respect for our trails.