With a proposal to expand access in a major way, the e-bike debate has intensified around a cycling hub of western Colorado.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Colorado River Valley Field Office is looking to allow Class 1 e-bikes on 200-plus miles of bike trails across its jurisdiction spanning Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties. This includes popular trail systems known as the Crown, Red Hill and Hardscrabble, along with other networks around Eagle, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, New Castle and Rifle.
Colorado River Valley Field Office staff spent March meeting with local officials and advocates, gathering feedback as part of an effort that launched more than a year ago. In a February 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.”
Allowed or not, e-bikes have increasingly roamed the trails, the Bureau of Land Management’s outdoor recreation planner indicated in the news release. “[A]nd when it makes sense, we work to improve access so everyone can enjoy our great trail systems,” Alan Czepinski said.
In a recent Pitkin County commissioners meeting, he presented surveying that showed split opinions among regulars of the Crown trails near Carbondale. Surveys regarding the Hardscrabble trails near Eagle showed similarly split opinions — underscoring tensions that have lingered since 2019, when an Interior order directed field offices to consider broader e-bike access.
Significant expansions have been seen around Moab and Colorado’s similarly vaunted North Fruita Desert and 18 Road area over the years. Under the Colorado River Valley Field Office, 18 miles of Grand Hogback trails opened to e-bikes not long after that 2019 ruling.
“We’ve had no user conflicts or trail maintenance issues that have been brought to our attention there,” Czepinski told Pitkin County commissioners, echoing sentiments out of Fruita.
User conflicts and trail impacts are some concerns commonly brought up in the e-bike debate. Czepinski listed others in his presentation: “fear of increased crowding” and “slippery slope toward motorized use.”
Pitkin County commissioners brought up more concerns about the prospect of e-bikes at the beloved Crown and Red Hill recreation management areas.
Regarding that “slippery slope,” some questioned enforcement and how the trails could be limited to Class 1 e-bikes, defined for motors that provide boosts up to 20 mph only when the rider is pedaling, as opposed to throttle-activated.
“No one seems to want Class 2 and 3 out there, and yet every year new bikes come out, and you can have a harder time seeing what’s what,” said Commissioner Ted Mahon.
He and other commissioners cautioned against “a blanket decision for the entire area,” as Francie Jacober put it. “All the trails are not the same.” And she sounded worried about the area’s elk: “I don’t think motorized vehicles are gonna help those herds up there.”
The local debate has matched others around Colorado, where e-bike enthusiasts have vied to be understood like all other cyclists.
Wrote one in comments collected by the Colorado River Valley Field Office: “I am not harming anyone or the trail, and am able to feel like I’m still a part of the biking community I’ve been involved with for years.”
It was one comment among several that mentioned older age and disability. Read another: “As an ex downhill mountain bike racer, riding bikes is my passion and my main source of exercise and stress relief. The eMtb makes it possible for me and my wife to continue in the sport we love.”
Another commented on the importance of “accessibility and recreational tourism.” Another wrote of being “generally opposed” to e-bikes, “however the reality is they are here to stay and offer opportunities for people to better enjoy the outdoors … I would just like to see responsible management of their use in these areas.”
That was the aim, said Dawson of the local field office.
“We know that this topic has a lot of passion behind it,” she told Pitkin County commissioners, while emphasizing “no decision has been made yet. This is all part of our decision making process.”
Scoping and surveying documents can be viewed on a project webpage, where updates will be posted: tinyurl.com/3aa39uuh.
