E-Bikes in National Parks

Federal rule

E-Bikes Ride Where Bicycles Ride, Once the Superintendent Designates It

The National Park Service wrote Interior Secretarial Order 3376 into its regulations in 2020. E-bikes are bicycles under park rules, and every park sets its own map.

36 CFR 1.4 defines an electric bicycle as a two- or three-wheeled cycle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of not more than 750 W (1 hp), and removes it from the definition of a motor vehicle. 36 CFR 4.30(i) sets the rest:

• E-bikes may use park roads, parking areas, and administrative roads and trails that are open to bicycles, where the superintendent designates them.
• Anywhere the superintendent has not designated, e-bike use is prohibited.
• Using the motor alone to move the bike for an extended period is prohibited, except where public motor vehicles are allowed. The rule only affects Class 2, throttle-equipped e-bikes.
• Possessing an e-bike in federally designated wilderness is prohibited.
• State e-bike law applies inside the park unless park rules say otherwise.
• The superintendent may restrict, condition or close areas to e-bikes, with public notice, usually in the compendium.

A May 2022 ruling in PEER v. National Park Service, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, found the Park Service skipped required environmental review. The court left the rule in place, and the Park Service finished a programmatic environmental assessment in August 2024 that found no significant impact.

Named parks

Park Rules Differ Most on Which E-Bike Classes May Ride

Each row comes from the park's own bicycling page or compendium. Most parks keep e-bikes on roads and named paths and off hiking trails.

By state

National Parks by State

Each state links to its list of National Park System units and their e-bike rules.

Each state's park list loads from the parks dataset in the PHP pass.

Checking a park

The Superintendent's Compendium Holds Each Park's E-Bike Designations

The compendium is the park's list of local rules issued under 36 CFR 1.7(b), and most parks update it every year. Glacier's 2026 compendium, for example, carries the Going-to-the-Sun Road bicycle hours.

• Find it on the park's nps.gov site, usually under Learn About the Park, then Management, as "Superintendent's Compendium."
• Read the entry for 36 CFR 4.30 (Bicycles). E-bike designations sit under 4.30(i), with any class limits and closed routes.
• Check the park's Plan Your Visit bicycling page for seasonal closures, vehicle-free days and shuttle rules.
• Where neither names e-bikes, call the park: under 4.30(i), a location without a designation is closed to them.
• Look up the state's e-bike law, since it applies inside the park for classes, age and equipment.

2026 rulemaking

Two 2026 Rules Split E-Scooters From E-Bikes and Would Open Park Roads by Default

Powered micromobility devices, final rule. Published August 12, 2026 and effective September 11, 2026 (RIN 1024-AE79), it adds 36 CFR 4.32 and a new definition in 36 CFR 1.4: a human-operated, self-propelled device under 150 pounds curb weight with no combustion engine, such as an e-scooter, hoverboard or Segway. E-bikes are excluded and stay under 36 CFR 4.30. The devices are barred except where a superintendent designates, need rulemaking before use on surfaces never improved with artificial or processed materials, and are prohibited in wilderness.

Bicycle Use in Park Areas, proposed rule. Published September 1, 2026 (RIN 1024-AE97, docket NPS-2026-0166), with comments due November 2, 2026. It would:

• Allow bicycles and e-bikes on park roads and parking areas open to the public without a superintendent's designation.
• Drop the environmental assessment, written determination and separate planning document now required for new bicycle trails.
• Require rulemaking only for locations never improved with artificial or processed materials, or designations meeting 36 CFR 1.5(b).
• Keep the ban on extended throttle-only riding, which affects Class 2 e-bikes, except where public motor vehicles are allowed.

Until a final rule appears, the 2020 text of 36 CFR 4.30(i) governs.

Other federal lands

Other Interior Lands Follow the Same Model, National Forests Do Not

The Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation also treat e-bikes like bicycles where the local manager allows them. The Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department, treats e-bikes as motor vehicles, so in national forests they stay on motorized roads and trails or trails designated for them. The federal lands page covers each agency.