Changes to Moab Trails: BLM Says Electric Is Out, Blue Dot Trail Now Legal & More

Good to hear the decision on E-bikes. It’s been hard enough to get fully human powered bikes on some of these trails.

Got lost on gold bar rim once. Still, it’s an amazing ride for sure.

And just like vaping, what little obedience we can expect of the ban will be moot when technology makes it almost impossible to enforce.

Limiting bicycling to just human effort feels right. On the other hand, I don’t judge when people drive or fly to wherever they’re biking, and if it’s strictly gravity, I don’t see what’s wrong with a lift or shuttle.

There is room for limits, though. Just like on the road, motor vehicles that travel on trails at least twice as fast with a motor as your nonmotorized counterparts should have licensed riders and insurance. If that’s not enforceable, then at least it might be enough to deter some people. People who don’t like pedaling are in the wrong sport.

Banning at least the e-bikes above 25kmh sounds like a good idea to me. I guess they went for the entire ban because it’s way easier to control and the discussions are easier.

Bans like these will become more popular I guess, because the two product groups of e-bikes and motorcycles will grow together resulting in some vehicles that that can’t be put in one catgory.

Ban e-bikes everywhere. Kill them With fire! Keep them on the roads.

I’m 74 years old. I learned how to ride a bike on the Atlantic City Boardwalk just after WWII. After injuries and surgeries, my legs need some assistance.

Riding on streets and highways with texting drivers is death or injuries. I just bought a Felt LEBOWSKIe..to ride in areas I want to photograph. How about a Senio/Disabled Pass for these trails.

@rlee I was referring to the blanket ban at this particular site. Otherwise good points. “you cannot police which bikes have more power than others” – True, that’s hard, and it’s a consequence of bad US legislation for e-bikes. (Over here an e-bike is, legally speaking, either a bicycle or a motorbike, depending on clear criteria: Power 250W, speed 25 km/t, pedaling required vs. having a throttle. Those in the motorbike category have a licence plate, so you can easily tell what’s what.)

However, if people use electric assist bi/tricycles because of disabilities, I don’t think it’s a good idea to send them to places where motorbikes abound. Hopefully there are enough sites elsewhere with more open, all-bicycle access. (The way I understand you, this particular site is perhaps not well suited for such cyclists anyway.)

Hmmmm, it seems pretty clear to me: 1- if it has a throttle or can move you under its own power, it’s a motorcycle and shouldn’t be on trails; 2- if it just provides assisting power when you are pedaling, it’s a bike and should be allowed.

I’m not personally a fan of it, but like the above gentleman said- some people need it to be able to ride. As long as they’re doing most of the work I have absolutely no problem. When somebody flies past me on a bike path doing 25mph into a headwind without having to pedal I have a problem with it. Not because they’re doing less work than me, but because it’s in all purposes a motorcycle.

No e-bikes is a good decision. They can ride motorized trails if they want to ride. Plenty of them in the Moab area.

The primary problem with allowing e-bikes on non motorized trails is emergency access. If your battery dies or you have an electrical issue then what? On a mountain bike, if you have a major mechanical a ways out on a trail, if you got yourself there, you are generally fit enough to get yourself out. If your on an e-bike you could easily get too far out to self rescue, and if you are fit enough to hike out, well then, you were fit enough to ride a real bike in the first place now weren’t you? Got more flats than you have tubes for? Normally it just means a long hike, but for someone that is on an e-bike, now its a rescue.

There are so many motorized-permitted trails in Moab and all over UT/CO that if you really want to go toodle around on your battery-bike you will find plenty of terrain. If bicycles are “mechanized” enough to be banned from wilderness then e-bikes are “motorized” enough to be banned from non-motorized trails.

Blue Dot Trail — LEGAL — this is a HUGE win for advanced riders, and the other two trails look like more fun up in the Mag 7 area.

Counting down to April!

I’ll add another point – technical riding requires leg strength going up and going down. We aren’t talking gravel or paved bike paths. If you need assist to get up a technical trail, I question your control ability going down especially in avoidance situations – and that can put yourself and others at great risk.

@joehannah, If you can walk well enough to get out then the only reason you are on an e-bike is laziness, which is not at all a fair rationale for increasing the tension in already tenuous trail access discussions.

Sweet! Glad to hear there are new Moab trails to ride and eBikes ARE motorized vehicles. BLM does the right thing.

As a 74 year old with a pedal assist ebike, I’m not interested in high testosterone activities. I just want to get to photo opportunites…without getting hit by a teenager on an ATV. Is there something between that and the pure experience of single track (which scares the hell out of me)?

Muscles atrophy by degrees as you age. A pedal assist ebike is the difference between being able to get out in nature or lying on the couch watching it on tv.