In case you haven’t noticed, bikers are getting charged up. Pedal-assist bikes make steep climbs and technical terrain less intimidating. E-mountain bikes don’t make squats obsolete, but they do open new territory for riders. Read why it’s worth nabbing an e-mountain bike, then check out the best pedal-assisted e-mountain bike routes across the country.
1. Slaughter Pen and Blowing Springs
Bentonville, Arkansas
The Slaughter Pen system includes rollicking downhill flow lines (Boo Boo and Choo Choo) and chundery Schroen Train. The Razorback Regional Greenway to the Blowing Springs network has cliffy drops and waterfalls.
2. South Mountain Park and Preserve
Phoenix
Towering saguaro cacti surround South Mountain Park and Preserve‘s 70 miles of blocky-rocky singletrack where Pivot Cycles developed and tested its Shuttle e-MTB.
3. The White Rim
Moab, Utah
This 100-mile route showcases scenery in Canyonlands National Park. On e-MTBs, cyclists can complete The White Rim over three days (rather than the usual four) and float up the final 1,500-foot climb.
4. Greenhorn Gulch
Ketchum, Idaho
Smooth, flowy ribbons of decomposed granite wind through thickets of wildflowers, grasses, and ghost forests scorched by wildfires in Greenhorn Gulch. E-MTBs let you see it all on the 23-mile loop combining the Cow Creek/Mahoney/Greenhorn/Imperial trails.
5. Big Bear Lake
San Bernardino, California
You can load an e-MTB onto the lifts at Summit Bike Park, or stitch together routes on 100 miles of cross-country and gravel trails. The six-mile Cactus Flats loop threads through Joshua trees, while the more technical 15-mile John Bull loop challenges riders with ledges and slickrock. Big Bear Lake can’t be beat.
