E-Bikes on Rail Trails

Rail-trails

Former Rail Lines Make Flat, Long Trails Suited to E-Bikes

A rail-trail is a multi-use path built on an abandoned or railbanked railroad corridor.

Railroad grades rarely exceed a few percent, so rail-trails run long distances with gentle climbs, tunnels and bridges. Surfaces range from asphalt to crushed limestone and packed cinder.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit founded in 1986, counts 2,423 open rail-trails totaling 25,934 miles in the United States, with another 9,029 miles of potential rail-trail in development. The conservancy runs TrailLink, a trail-finder website and app that lists rail-trails alongside other multi-use trails, with maps, surfaces and permitted uses for each.

Railbanking under the National Trails System Act lets a railroad hand a corridor to a trail manager while keeping it available for future rail service. Many of the longest trails, including the Katy Trail, began this way.

Who decides

Trail Manager, State Law and Local Ordinance Each Set E-Bike Access

Three layers of rules apply to every rail-trail:

• State law defines the three e-bike classes and sets a default for bike paths. Washington, for example, allows Class 1 and Class 2 on bike paths unless a local agency says otherwise.
• The trail manager, which may be a state park system, the National Park Service, a county or a city, can open or close the trail to each class and post speed limits.
• Local ordinances can restrict e-bikes on segments that run through a town or county.

Class 1 bikes assist only while the rider pedals and stop at 20 mph. Class 2 bikes add a throttle and also stop at 20 mph. Class 3 bikes assist only while pedaling, up to 28 mph. Most state laws cap motor output at 750 W.

Paved, urban rail-trails usually follow the state default. Crushed-stone and natural-surface trails, and trails that pass through parks or protected land, more often limit access to Class 1 or set lower speed limits.

Named trails

Major Rail-Trails Mostly Allow Class 1, With Different Limits on Throttles and Speed

On the C&O Canal, the 15 mph limit covers all bicycles. Riders yield to pedestrians, horses and mules, and walk bikes over aqueducts and through tunnels. The Great Allegheny Passage meets the towpath at Cumberland, Maryland, forming one continuous route from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.

The Mickelson Trail runs 109 miles from Edgemont to Deadwood in the Black Hills. Senate Bill 79, sponsored by Sen. Taffy Howard and signed by Gov. Larry Rhoden in 2025, made Class 2 and Class 3 bikes a Class 2 misdemeanor on the trail.

Washington State Parks applies the same Class 1 and Class 3 rule to its other long-distance rail-trails: Columbia Plateau, Klickitat, Spokane River Centennial and Willapa Hills. All classes may use park roads.

Florida's Withlacoochee State Trail runs 47 miles from Citrus Springs to Trilby. The park cites Section 316.20655 of the Florida Statutes, which gives e-bike riders the rights of bicycle riders.

Cross-country route

The Great American Rail-Trail Links 12 States From Washington, DC, to Washington State

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy launched the Great American Rail-Trail in 2019 as a 3,700-mile route across 12 states. By its May 2026 progress report the route was nearly 56% complete, with more than 125 miles of new trail finished since launch. The route strings together existing trails, including the C&O Canal Towpath, the Great Allegheny Passage, the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail and segments in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

No single e-bike rule covers the route. Each component trail keeps its own manager and its own classes, so a Class 2 bike allowed on one segment may be barred on the next.

Etiquette

Trail Rules Ask E-Bike Riders to Keep Right, Yield and Signal

• Obey posted speed limits: 15 mph on the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath.
• Ride single file and keep right except when passing; pass on the left.
• Yield to pedestrians, horses and slower users.
• Give an audible signal before passing; the C&O Canal recommends a bell or horn within 100 ft of others.
• Pedal on trails that bar throttle-only travel, including National Park Service trails.
• Check each trail's class rule before riding; signs at trailheads list the classes allowed.

By state

Rail Trails by State

Select a state to see its rail-trails.

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