Maine Bike Trails Map 2026: Where eBikes Can Ride

988 trails · 1,311 miles in all 16 Maine counties · 153 miles open to Class 1 · 39 towns' and cities' rules read · Rules verified October 24, 2026

Quick Answer: In Maine, Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes may ride wherever bicycles may unless the manager bars them; a Class 3 rides a path only where allowed, and no class rides a natural-surface path designated nonmotorized unless its manager allows it. Of 1,311 mapped miles, 153 are open to Class 1 and 52 to Class 2.

Every e-bike in our full range ships free to your Maine door.

The Kennebec River Rail Trail in Augusta, paved beside the inactive railroad tracks above the Kennebec River, where the trail's own rules welcome Class 1 and 2 e-bikes, in a scene generated with Playcut from a photograph of the trail by Terry Ross.

Every line is a trail or path from the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service or OpenStreetMap, colored by the e-bike rule its manager publishes. The numbers mark MaineDOT's five regions in the order this page maps them below.

Maine's law treats your e-bike as a bicycle on the trail and leaves each path's manager the last word.

29-A M.R.S. § 2063(14)(F)(1) says "A Class 1 electric bicycle or a Class 2 electric bicycle may be operated in any place where bicycles are permitted to travel, including, but not limited to, bicycle paths", and lets the town or agency with jurisdiction over a path prohibit them there. § 2063(14)(F)(2) keeps a Class 3 off a bicycle path unless it runs within a road or its manager has authorized Class 3.

A third rule decides most of Maine's woods trails. § 2063(14)(F)(3) says no e-bike may ride "a bicycle path designated for nonmotorized traffic if significant portions of the bicycle path have a natural surface, including gravel, stones or wooden bridging", unless its manager authorizes it.

On private land the owner decides: the statute "may not be construed to limit the authority of the owner of a private way or the owner of private property to restrict or allow" e-bikes (§ 2063(14)).

111 managers each hold part of that authority on this map. Every trail below carries its manager's name where a record names one and, where the rule could be read, what it says about e-bikes with a link to it, all kept in the trail register, so you can check your ride trail by trail.

For the rest of Maine's e-bike law, from labels to age limits, read Maine e-bike laws. To compare Maine's trail rules with other states', open bike trails by state.

Riding in another state? You will find the same trail-by-trail map for New York bike trails, Ohio bike trails, Michigan bike trails, Wisconsin bike trails, Arkansas bike trails, Indiana bike trails, Iowa bike trails, Florida bike trails, Texas bike trails, Colorado bike trails, Utah bike trails, Oregon bike trails and Washington State bike trails.

For California, our California trail guide explains who manages each kind of trail, and our national guide to e-bike trails near you shows how to find out who manages a trail anywhere in the US.

79% of the mapped miles read gray. The largest cause is the state's own land: the Bureau of Parks and Lands manages 417 mapped miles, and none of the 74 Bureau rules, park pages and trail pages read for this map names an e-bike. Each gray trail's row in the downloadable register says why it is gray.

In this guide

• How to read the map
• Who decides on each trail
• Maine's state rail trails, parks and public lands
• Baxter State Park
• Acadia National Park
• Katahdin Woods and Waters and other federal land
• Trail groups and land trusts with their own rule
• Town and city rules
• Named trails riders ask about
• Maine bike trails, region by region
• Where riders get caught out
• Sidewalks, roads and bike lanes
• Choosing an e-bike for Maine trails
• Frequently asked questions

How to read the map

Find your trail's color, then read who manages it. Green takes all three classes, blue takes Class 1 and Class 2, orange takes Class 1 alone, and dashed red means a published rule closes the trail to your e-bike.

Gray covers four cases: the rule is unsettled and both readings are printed, we could not read the manager's rule, the land is private, tribal or a nonprofit's, or no record names a manager. The register says which one applies to the trail you ride.

Maine defines an electric bicycle as a two- or three-wheel bicycle "with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts", in three classes. Check your label against this table:

Your e-bike should carry its class on a label. Since October 1, 2019, § 2063(14)(B) has required every maker, distributor and seller in Maine to fix a permanent label showing "the classification number, top assisted speed and motor wattage of the electric bicycle", and § 2063(14)(G) requires a Class 3 to carry a speedometer.

You must be 16 to ride a Class 2 or Class 3. § 2063(14)(H) says "A person under 16 years of age may not operate a Class 2 or Class 3 electric bicycle", and anyone under 16 riding or carried on any e-bike "shall wear a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet".

You need no license or registration for any class: § 2063(14)(A) frees an e-bike rider from the provisions on "financial responsibility, driver's licenses, registration and license plate requirements."

A motor of 750 watts is too big. Maine's definition says "less than 750 watts", so a bike rated at exactly 750 W falls outside it, and § 2063(14)(C) says a bike modified past 20 mph on the motor alone, or 28 mph with pedal assist, "is no longer an electric bicycle."

Who decides on each trail

Who manages your trail decides the rule. State land holds 37% of Maine's mapped miles, local governments' land 19%, land trusts and other nonprofits 17% and federal land 12%; find your trail's manager in the first column of the table below.

A trail whose stretches fall under two rules sits in each row with the miles that lie there, so if you find a trail twice, that is why: 2 trails appear in more than one row, and the rows still add up to the state.

Maine's state rail trails, parks and public lands

The Bureau of Parks and Lands manages 417 of this map's 1,311 miles, 32% of the total, and none of its rules or pages names an e-bike. The map reads 74 Bureau texts: its rules chapters, its park pages and its biking, trail and park-rules pages. So its rail trails, parks and public lands read gray, each with the rule the Bureau does publish.

The multi-use rail trails

The Bureau's long rail trails, from the Down East Sunrise Trail to the Aroostook Valley Trail, carry snowmobiles and ATVs as well as bicycles. Its "Policy Statement About Multi-use Rail Trails" says "Non-motorized use includes but is not limited to: walking, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and skiing", and "All motorized vehicles permitted on Multi-use Rail Trails must be legally registered as either an ATV and/or snowmobile."

Whether your e-bike rides those trails as a bicycle or as a motorized vehicle, the Bureau has not said. Read one way, § 2063(1) counts an electric bicycle as a bicycle and § 2063(14)(F)(1) lets Class 1 and 2 go where bicycles may.

Read the other, an e-bike is a motorized vehicle, which the policy admits only when registered as an ATV or snowmobile. The map prints 332 miles of these trails gray for that reason, and the Bureau's rail-trail office is the one to ask.

One stretch is closed to everyone. The Bureau's Whistle Stop Trail page says the trail "From Rt 2/4 in Wilton to Jay is closed indefinitely due to extensive washouts" (closure update of June 30, 2023), so 8.9 mapped miles read red.

State parks

In a state park, a bicycle rides only where the Bureau designates it. Rule 8 of the Bureau's park rules confines "Wheeled vehicles including bicycles" to "roads and trails specifically designated for their use".

The rules and the park pages name no e-bike, so a natural-surface park trail falls under § 2063(14)(F)(3): if the Bureau designates it for nonmotorized traffic, it closes to every e-bike class unless the Bureau authorizes them. That is our reading, and the map prints 43 miles of park trail gray until a park posts a rule.

Public lands

On the Bureau's public reserved lands, its rules chapter 51 says "Off-road travel by wheeled vehicles of any sort is prohibited", while its own pages list "Mountain biking" at the Kennebec Highlands and "Off-road biking" at the Bigelow Preserve. Whether a trail listed for biking is "off-road travel", and whether an e-bike rides it, the rule's words do not settle, so these 34 miles read gray.

Wildlife management areas

On a state wildlife management area, a motor vehicle stays on the roads and the trails designated for it. Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's chapter 5 rule says "The operation of any motor vehicle, excluding motorboats, within the boundaries of any state-owned Wildlife Management Area, Boat Launch Facility or Shooting Range is prohibited except as provided below".

Its game law counts as a motor vehicle "any motor-driven vehicle, except motorboats". On our reading an e-bike falls inside that definition, and the Department publishes no e-bike rule, so its 12 mapped miles read gray.

Baxter State Park

In Baxter State Park, a bicycle rides only the maintained roads and the Dwelley Pond Trail. The Baxter State Park Authority's Rule 5.4 says "bicycle use within the Park shall be restricted to maintained roads and the Dwelley Pond Trail", and "Bicycle use is allowed on the Abol Stream Trail December 1 to April 1." Every other trail in the park is closed to bicycles, and so to e-bikes: 30 mapped miles read red.

On the Dwelley Pond Trail's 5.2 miles and the park's roads, the Authority's rules do not say whether an e-bike rides as a bicycle, so that trail reads gray. Ask the Authority before you bring one.

Acadia National Park

Acadia lets a Class 1 e-bike ride where a bicycle may, and keeps Class 2 and Class 3 to the park's motor roads. The park's compendium says "Bicycle and class 1 e-bike use is permitted on motor roads; on carriage roads; on designated bike paths; in parking areas", and on five named service roads, and that "All classes of e-bikes are allowed where motor vehicles are allowed."

Its bicycling page puts it plainly: "Class 1 E-bikes are permitted on carriage roads. Class 2 and 3 are not allowed."

The carriage roads run 45 miles, by the park's carriage road guide, and this map draws 43.6 of them. "No bicycle may exceed 20 mph on the carriage roads", and "Bicycling is not permitted on hiking trails or on privately owned carriage roads" (bicycling page).

Three details catch visitors out. The carriage roads "often close to all traffic during mud season, typically March and April", the Island Explorer's Bicycle Express van does not carry e-bikes, and on Isle au Haut the compendium both opens Western Head Road to Class 1 and closes it "to all unauthorized motor vehicles including e-bikes", so that road reads gray.

Katahdin Woods and Waters and other federal land

At Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, a Class 1 rides the multi-use trails and every class rides the public motor roads. Its compendium says "Class 1 e-bikes are allowed on motor roads, service roads, parking areas and multi-use trails. Class 2 and 3 e-bikes are only permitted on motor roads open to the public." It also says "The use of bicycles and e-bikes on pedestrian-only hiking trails is prohibited" (compendium).

The monument's pages name its bike routes, such as the ride to Orin Falls, and 6.9 mapped miles follow them. Another 33 miles, most of them the International Appalachian Trail and the Telos Tote Trail, are neither listed as hiking-only nor named as a bike route, so they read gray: ask the monument before you ride them.

The White Mountain National Forest's trails in Maine are closed to e-bikes. The Forest Service counts an e-bike as a motor vehicle and allows one only where its motor vehicle use map designates it (36 CFR 261.13), and that map designates no trail in Maine, so 50 mapped miles read red.

On a national wildlife refuge, an e-bike rides only where the refuge manager has found it compatible. 50 CFR 27.31(m) gives an e-bike a bicycle's rights "If the refuge manager determines that electric bicycle (also known as e-bike) use is a compatible use on roads or trails".

No Maine refuge's pages publish that finding, so 7 miles of refuge roads and trails read gray, and at Rachel Carson the Carson Trail asks "no bicycles please".

Leave your e-bike at the trailhead on the Appalachian Trail. On the trail's federal lands, 36 CFR 7.100(a)(1) says "The use of bicycles, motorcycles or other motor vehicles is prohibited", and whichever your e-bike counts as, the rule bars it.

Trail groups and land trusts with their own rule

Some of Maine's best e-bike rides belong to a trail group that wrote its own rule. These managers name e-bike classes outright, so their trails carry a color of their own:

• The Eastern Trail. The Eastern Trail Management District says "Class 1 and Class 2 electric bikes and mobility devices for disabled individuals are allowed.", and asks cyclists to keep to "no more than 15 mph", so its 16 mapped miles, from Kennebunk to South Portland, read blue.
• The Kennebec River Rail Trail. Its friends group's rules say "Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are welcome." and ask riders not to bring a Class 3; the trail is open dawn to dusk and pedestrians have the right of way, over 6.4 mapped miles from Augusta to Gardiner.
• Portland Trails. "Portland Trails is permitting Class I and II e-bikes on our trails.", and "Class III e-bikes are not permitted on any Portland Trails trail", on 5.6 mapped miles.
• Libby Hill Forest in Gray. The trails' own site says "Class III E-Bikes are not allowed on any trails at Libby Hill or Thayer Brook Preserve.", which leaves Class 1 and 2 where bikes ride; in winter, the groomed ski trails are for skiers (5.8 mapped miles, with the Royal River Conservation Trust's Thayer Brook Preserve beside them).
• The Falmouth Land Trust. Its preserves allow bikes except at two properties, with "E-bikes: Class 1 only", on 9.2 mapped miles.
• The University of Maine's DeMeritt Forest. The university says "we will be allowing the use of Class 1 Electric Bikes on the University’s unpaved surface trails.", and its winter policy keeps bicycles off the groomed ski trails (11.5 mapped miles).

One trail group's network reads closed. Maine Huts & Trails says "Our trails are non-motorized multi-use.", and with no e-bike permission published, § 2063(14)(F)(3) closes its natural-surface trails to every class on our reading (22 mapped miles, red).

The Katahdin Region Multi-Use Trail lists "bicycling" among its non-motorized uses and says "Other vehicles such as golf carts, scooters/mopeds must be registered as an ATV." It sets 25 mph, no bicycles after snowfall and pedestrians only in mud season, and whether an e-bike rides as a bicycle there it does not say: 16 miles, gray.

On every other private or nonprofit trail, the owner decides. Land trusts, water districts, clubs and private owners hold 276 mapped miles, most of them silent on e-bikes, and the statute leaves them free "to restrict or allow" e-bikes. Snowmobile club trails cross private land by the owners' leave, so ask the club before you ride one in summer.

Town and city rules

51 towns and cities manage 210 mapped miles. The rules of 39 of them were read in full or in the chapters that reach a trail, covering 84.1% of local trail miles, and 12 could not be read. The table lists every town whose rule reaches a mapped trail, each rule linked to its section, and the register holds the verdict for every town.

Towns that name e-bikes

South Portland rewrote its rules on April 7, 2026. Its bicycle chapter now says "Bicycle shall include the term Class 1 electric bicycle and Class 2 electric bicycle", and its parks chapter keeps a "class 3 electric bicycle or other motorized vehicle" off any park, beach or other city property, the Greenbelt Walkway included (6.3 mapped miles, blue).

Presque Isle lets a Class 1 ride its park paths, and no other class. Its parks chapter says "Where used in this ordinance, bicycle will include electric bicycle as defined herein.", then defines an electric bicycle as a pedal-assist Class 1 and confines a bicycle to "a paved vehicle road or path designated for that purpose".

A Class 2 or Class 3 counts as a vehicle there, kept to public ways, paved park roads and parking areas (2.8 mapped miles, orange).

At Mount Agamenticus, York's park regulations sort trails by use. "Class 1 & 2 E-Bikes are permitted on hike/bike trails.", and a Class 3 rides only trails designated "multiple use", which on the park's map is the Wheel Trail, the one green line on this map (3.5 miles of hike/bike trail, blue).

Carrabassett Valley's Select Board approved Class 1 e-mountain bikes on one side of Route 27. Its minutes of April 10, 2023 record "continuing approval of E-bikes on the Outdoor Center trails", so 18.1 mapped miles on the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center side read orange. The same minutes say e-bikes continue "not to be approved on the Narrow-Gauge Pathway", which reads red.

Rules that keep out a "vehicle" without naming e-bikes

14 towns and cities bar a "vehicle", a "motor vehicle" or a "motorized" machine from the land under their trails, over 46 mapped miles, without saying whether an e-bike is one. Windham's code, for one, bars "any motorized vehicle" from town property except motorized trails the council approves, over 15.9 mapped miles.

Read as a bicycle, an e-bike rides those trails under § 2063(14)(F); read as the vehicle the rule names, it may not ride them at all. The map prints both readings and colors those trails gray, so ask the town's parks office before you ride.

Kennebunk's rule shows how old some of this wording is. Its ordinance bars "a motor vehicle, as defined in 29 M.R.S.A., Section 1, subsection 7" from the Bridle Path and Wonderbrook Park, a definition in a chapter of Title 29 that the Legislature now lists as repealed, while today's motor vehicle definition leaves out an electric bicycle.

Where a town's own words close a path

Bangor keeps bicycles out of its downtown parks. Its code says "No person shall operate a bicycle in any City park, as designated in Chapter 231, Public Parks, § 231-2 of this Code, located in any portion of the Downtown Development District.", and § 2063(1) counts an e-bike as a bicycle. This map does not draw the district's boundary, so Bangor's park trails read gray: inside the district, the rule keeps your e-bike out.

Portland's traffic code bars a vehicle from "any publicly owned property not a street, highway or roadway" and names the Eastern Promenade Trail, while its own definition of a vehicle leaves out conveyances "propelled or drawn by human power". Where an e-bike falls between those words the code does not say, so the city's own trails read gray and Portland Trails' network keeps its blue.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

3 local governments on this map adopted or revised a rule in 2025 or 2026 that the map reads, each date read in the rule's own text:

• Presque Isle amended its parks chapter on June 17, 2025; it is the chapter that admits Class 1 and no other class.
• Gorham's Ordinance No. 25-82, August 5, 2025, bars "any motorized vehicle" from a sidewalk or other pedestrian way.
• South Portland's Ordinances Nos. 20-25/26 and 22-25/26, April 7, 2026, made Class 1 and 2 bicycles under its code and barred Class 3 from city land.

Named trails riders ask about

These are the trails, parks and towns Maine riders name in their searches, each row backed by a search string riders typed. The miles are the stretches this map draws, split by the rule that governs each stretch.

The Eastern Trail and the Kennebec River Rail Trail are the surest long rides for a Class 1 or Class 2 e-bike in Maine. The Eastern Trail's own rule covers 16.1 of its 16.5 mapped miles, the Kennebec River Rail Trail's covers all 6.4, and both take Class 1 and 2 and no Class 3.

The Down East Sunrise Trail reads gray end to end. Its 87 mapped miles are a Bureau multi-use rail trail, where the Bureau's policy admits only bicycling and registered ATVs and snowmobiles and names no e-bike.

The Whistle Stop Trail is part closed and part gray. 9 mapped miles between Wilton and Jay are closed by washouts, and the other 6 sit under the Bureau's rail-trail policy.

Maine bike trails, region by region

The five regions below follow MaineDOT's own five regions, with each trail stretch placed in the region that holds its midpoint, and are drawn on the map above; the names are ours, after the places in each.

Open your region's section for its map, its longest named trails and their rules, and a collapsed list of every mapped trail by rule. A trail that crosses a region line appears in each region with the miles that lie there.

Portland, Lewiston and Southern Maine

Southern Maine holds the most trail open to a Class 2 on the map. Its 373 mapped miles lie in Cumberland County, York County, part of Androscoggin County, part of Sagadahoc County and part of Oxford County; 48 are open, 22 are closed and 303 read gray.

The Eastern Trail, South Portland's city land, Portland Trails' network, Libby Hill in Gray and the Falmouth Land Trust's preserves carry most of the open miles. The gray ones sit under Falmouth's, Windham's, Portland's and Gorham's town rules, on water district land, on Bradbury Mountain State Park's trails and on stretches whose manager no record names.

Augusta, Camden and the Midcoast

In the Midcoast, the Kennebec River Rail Trail carries almost every open mile. Its 83 mapped miles lie in Lincoln County, Waldo County, part of Kennebec County, part of Knox County, part of Sagadahoc County and part of Androscoggin County; 7 are open and 76 read gray.

Camden Hills State Park and the Kennebec Highlands read gray under the Bureau's park and public land rules, and so do Augusta's and Winslow's park trails under their "motorized" bans, the Belfast Rail Trail and the land trusts' preserves, where the owner decides.

Carrabassett Valley and the Western Mountains

The western mountains hold the most closed trail on the map. Their 269 mapped miles lie in Franklin County, part of Oxford County, part of Somerset County, part of Androscoggin County, part of Piscataquis County and part of Kennebec County; 19 are open, 63 are closed and 187 read gray.

Almost all the open miles are the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center's trails, approved for Class 1, and Livermore Falls' paved Foundry Trail adds a short Class 1 and 2 stretch. The closed ones are the White Mountain National Forest's trails, Maine Huts & Trails' network, the Narrow Gauge Pathway and the washed-out Whistle Stop section, and the gray ones are mostly Bureau land, snowmobile club trails and trails no record names a manager for.

Bangor, Acadia and Down East

Acadia's carriage roads make Down East the best region for a Class 1. Its 244 mapped miles lie in Hancock County, part of Washington County, part of Penobscot County, part of Piscataquis County and part of Knox County; 69 are open and 175 read gray.

Acadia's carriage roads and Schoodic bike paths and the University of Maine's DeMeritt Forest take Class 1. The Down East Sunrise Trail, the region's longest, reads gray under the Bureau's policy, and so do Bangor's downtown parks, Calais' Waterfront Walkway and the Moosehorn refuge.

Aroostook, Katahdin and the North Woods

Most of the north reads gray. Its 341 mapped miles lie in Aroostook County, part of Piscataquis County, part of Penobscot County, part of Somerset County and part of Washington County; 10 are open, 30 are closed and 301 read gray.

Katahdin Woods and Waters' multi-use trails and Presque Isle's bike path take Class 1, and Baxter State Park's trails are closed. The Bureau's Aroostook rail trails, the Bangor and Aroostook and the Aroostook Valley Trail among them, read gray, and so do the Katahdin Region Multi-Use Trail and the land of the Appalachian Mountain Club, where the owner decides.

Where riders get caught out

Seven situations catch riders out on Maine trails, each one a detail the map's color alone does not show. Read the list before you plan your ride.

1. A Class 3 on a bike path. Unless the path runs within a road or its manager authorizes Class 3, § 2063(14)(F)(2) keeps you off it, and on this map only York's Wheel Trail does.
2. A throttle where Class 1 rides alone. Acadia's carriage roads, Katahdin Woods and Waters' multi-use trails, the Falmouth Land Trust's preserves, the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center's trails, the DeMeritt Forest's unpaved trails and Presque Isle's paths take Class 1 and no Class 2.
3. A woods trail designated nonmotorized. § 2063(14)(F)(3) closes a natural-surface path designated for nonmotorized traffic to every class unless its manager authorizes e-bikes, which is why Maine Huts & Trails and the Narrow Gauge Pathway read red.
4. A rider under 16 on a Class 2 or Class 3. The statute bars it outright, and a rider under 16 wears a helmet on any class, so if you are buying for a rider under 16, the class the law allows them is Class 1.
5. A rule that says "no motorized vehicles". 14 towns and cities on this map write one without defining it, and the Bureau's rail-trail policy admits motorized vehicles only as registered ATVs and snowmobiles; ask before you ride.
6. Mud season and snow. Acadia's carriage roads often close in March and April, the Katahdin Region Multi-Use Trail allows no bicycles after snowfall, and Libby Hill's and the DeMeritt Forest's groomed ski trails are for skiers in winter.
7. A sidewalk. The state leaves sidewalks to each town, and Rockland, Caribou and Fort Kent are among those that keep bicycles off them, so read your town's rule before you ride one.

What a wrong turn can cost you

On the road, a rider 17 or older who breaks a bicycle rule of the road commits a traffic infraction. § 2063(7) sets a fine "of not less than $25 and not more than $250" for riding against the rules on keeping right, speed, yielding, signals, stop signs and one-way roads, and says "A person under 17 years of age is not subject to a fine under this section."

On a trail, your penalty is the one the manager's rule sets: North Yarmouth's park ordinance carries a fine "of not more than One Hundred dollars ($100) per offense", and Calais' park ordinance one "of not less than twenty-five dollars and not more than two hundred and fifty dollars".

Your Maine trail checklist, in five steps

1. Find the trail and who manages it. Look it up on its region's map or in the downloadable register; the manager makes the rule you must follow.
2. Check your label. If yours is a Class 3, you give up every bike path whose manager has not authorized Class 3, and if yours is a throttle Class 2, you give up Acadia's carriage roads and every trail that takes Class 1 alone.
3. Check the surface. On a natural-surface trail designated nonmotorized, you need the manager's permission to ride any class.
4. Check your age. You must be 16 to ride a Class 2 or Class 3, and under 16 you wear a helmet.
5. Read the trailhead sign. A posted closure, season or speed limit applies to the trail you are on, so follow the sign you see, and yield to people on foot.

Sidewalks, roads and bike lanes

On the road, Maine treats you as a bicycle rider. § 2063(1) says "bicycle" includes "a motorized bicycle, a motorized tricycle, a motorized scooter and an electric bicycle", so the bicycle rules of the road in § 2063 apply to every class.

On a sidewalk, your town's rule decides. Rockland bars riding a bicycle "on any sidewalk area" and counts a motorized bicycle as a bicycle there (§ 17-502), Caribou lets only children under 16 ride its sidewalks outside the business district, and Fort Kent bars bicycles from sidewalks and from pathways "commonly provided for pedestrians" (Sec. 20-72).

For lights, passengers and the rest of the road rules, read Maine e-bike laws.

Choosing an e-bike for Maine trails

The class on the label decides how much of this map is yours: 153 mapped miles on a Class 1, 52 on a Class 2 and 0.1 on a Class 3. Each color here names the classes that may ride, so read your bike's class before you buy it.

A Class 1 rides every open mile on this map. If you plan Acadia's carriage roads, the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center or Katahdin Woods and Waters, buy a bike whose maker states Class 1 on its label. A Class 3 suits a commute on Maine's roads, where § 2063 treats it as a bicycle, and almost no mapped path takes it.

Maine's trails reward wide tires and range. 176 of this map's miles are crushed stone or gravel and 503 are dirt or native surface, so a commuter or hybrid with wide tires suits the rail trails and carriage roads, and a fat-tire bike suits sand, snow and the soft spots of a spring ride. For Carrabassett Valley and the Outdoor Center's singletrack, choose a Class 1 e-mountain bike.

Why buy your trail e-bike from us

• Free shipping to Maine. Shipping is free on every e-bike to the lower 48 states. Your bike leaves us within 1 to 3 business days of your order's confirmation, and most arrive within 5 to 10 business days of shipping (shipping policy).
• A damaged delivery is our claim to make. Note the damage with the carrier and send us photos within 48 hours of delivery; we take the claim to the carrier and arrange a replacement or repair (refund policy).
• A fault on arrival is handled through us. If the bike will not power on or charge, shows an error code or has a faulty part when it arrives, the maker's warranty covers it, and we coordinate a repair or replacement remotely (refund policy).
• Support from a US team. Our team answers at support@redtailebikes.com and on (213) 444-4020.
• Card or wallet. Pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, American Express, Diners Club, Discover, Mastercard or Visa.
• The company behind your order. Our terms of service name the company you buy from, which answers for your order and for your e-bike after it reaches you.

The bottom line

Ride a Class 1 e-bike and every open mile of this map is yours: Acadia's carriage roads, the Eastern Trail, the Kennebec River Rail Trail, Portland Trails' network, Katahdin Woods and Waters' multi-use trails and the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center's trails.

On a Bureau rail trail, a state park trail or a town trail under a "motorized" ban, ask the manager before you ride; in Baxter State Park, on Maine Huts & Trails and in the White Mountain National Forest, keep your e-bike off the trails.

Shopping for one? Choose the class first: a Class 2 gives up 101 mapped miles here, and a Class 3 almost all of them. Then compare commuter e-bikes for the paved paths or long-range e-bikes for the rail trails, and the whole range ships to Maine free.

Before every new trail, find its color here, and read the sign at the trailhead before you ride. If you find a trail missing from the map, or a rule that has changed, email its name and a link to the new rule to support@redtailebikes.com, and we will read its register row again.

Frequently asked questions

Are e-bikes allowed on Maine bike trails?

Class 1 and Class 2 are, wherever a bicycle may ride, unless the trail's manager bars them. 29-A M.R.S. § 2063(14)(F)(1) opens bicycle paths to both, a Class 3 needs the manager's authorization, and a natural-surface path designated nonmotorized is closed to every class unless its manager allows e-bikes. Find your trail's color on the map above, then read its manager's rule.

Are e-bikes legal in Maine?

Yes, and Maine law treats an electric bicycle as a bicycle. § 101(22-B) defines its three classes, with a motor "of less than 750 watts", and § 2063(1) puts it under the bicycle rules of the road. No class needs a license or registration. For the rest, read Maine e-bike laws.

Are e-bikes allowed on the Acadia carriage roads?

A Class 1 is, and a Class 2 or Class 3 is not. Acadia's bicycling page says "Class 1 E-bikes are permitted on carriage roads. Class 2 and 3 are not allowed.", every rider keeps to 20 mph, and the roads often close in mud season, typically March and April. Privately owned carriage roads and hiking trails are closed to bikes.

Are e-bikes allowed in Acadia National Park?

Yes, on the roads and paths open to bicycles, by class. The compendium admits a Class 1 on motor roads, carriage roads, designated bike paths, parking areas and five service roads, and says "All classes of e-bikes are allowed where motor vehicles are allowed." So a Class 2 or 3 rides the Park Loop Road and the other motor roads, and no class rides a hiking trail.

Can you ride an e-bike in Maine state parks?

Only where the Bureau designates a trail for bikes, and no Bureau rule names e-bikes. Rule 8 confines "Wheeled vehicles including bicycles" to "roads and trails specifically designated for their use". A natural-surface park trail designated nonmotorized is closed to e-bikes unless the Bureau authorizes them, so read the park's sign or ask its office first.

Can you bike in Baxter State Park?

On the maintained roads and the Dwelley Pond Trail, yes; on its other trails, no. Rule 5.4 says "bicycle use within the Park shall be restricted to maintained roads and the Dwelley Pond Trail", adding the Abol Stream Trail from December 1 to April 1. The rules name no e-bike, so ask the Authority before you bring one.

Do e-bikes need to be registered in Maine?

No. § 2063(14)(A) says a person operating an electric bicycle "is not subject to the provisions of this Title relating to financial responsibility, driver's licenses, registration and license plate requirements." Your bike must still carry its class label, and you must be 16 to ride a Class 2 or Class 3.

Can you ride an e-bike on the Appalachian Trail?

No. On the trail's federal lands, 36 CFR 7.100(a)(1) says "The use of bicycles, motorcycles or other motor vehicles is prohibited", and in Baxter State Park the trail is closed to bicycles under the park's own rule. Ride the roads and rail trails near it instead.

Are e-bikes allowed on mountain bike trails in Maine?

It depends on the manager. Libby Hill Forest in Gray takes Class 1 and 2, the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center and the DeMeritt Forest take Class 1, and Maine Huts & Trails' trails are closed. A natural-surface trail designated nonmotorized is closed unless its manager authorizes e-bikes, so check the trail's row in the register.

Can you ride an e-bike on Maine ATV and snowmobile trails?

Not under any published rule. The Bureau's rail-trail policy admits motorized vehicles only when "legally registered as either an ATV and/or snowmobile", and snowmobile club trails cross private land by the owners' leave. Those trails read gray here, so ask the club or the Bureau before you ride one.

How old do you have to be to ride an e-bike in Maine?

16 for a Class 2 or Class 3. § 2063(14)(H) says "A person under 16 years of age may not operate a Class 2 or Class 3 electric bicycle", and a rider under 16 may ride a Class 1. Anyone under 16 on any e-bike, rider or passenger, must wear a fitted and fastened helmet.

Do you need a helmet to ride an e-bike in Maine?

If you are under 16, yes. § 2063(14)(H)(3) says a person under 16 "who is an operator or passenger on an electric bicycle shall wear a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet". The statute sets no helmet rule for riders 16 and older.

Can you ride an e-bike on the sidewalk in Maine?

Where your town allows it. The state leaves sidewalks to each town. Rockland bars bicycles from sidewalk areas, Caribou lets only children under 16 ride its sidewalks outside the business district, and Fort Kent bars bicycles from sidewalks and pedestrian pathways (Sec. 20-72), so read your town's code first.

Are e-bikes allowed on the Eastern Trail?

Class 1 and Class 2 are. The Eastern Trail Management District says "Class 1 and Class 2 electric bikes and mobility devices for disabled individuals are allowed." and asks cyclists to keep to 15 mph. A Class 3 is not on that list, and the 16.1 mapped miles under the District's rule read blue.

How long is the Kennebec River Rail Trail?

This map draws 6.4 miles of it, from Augusta through Hallowell and Farmingdale to Gardiner. Its rules say "Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are welcome.", ask riders not to bring a Class 3, and open the trail dawn to dusk, with pedestrians first.

Can you ride an e-bike on trails in Portland, Maine?

On Portland Trails' network, a Class 1 or 2 may. "Portland Trails is permitting Class I and II e-bikes on our trails." The city's own trails, the Eastern Promenade Trail among them, read gray under a traffic code that bars a "vehicle" from public property off the streets, and South Portland's Greenbelt Walkway takes Class 1 and 2.

How many miles of bike trails are in Maine?

This map draws 1,311 miles of trails and paths, across 988 trails in all 16 Maine counties. The count covers the Forest Service's and the Park Service's trail layers and OpenStreetMap's trails and bicycle ways, with ground two sources both map counted once, and it leaves out on-road bike lanes, shoulders and sidewalks.

How we verified this map

• Trails. 988 trails over 1,311 miles from the USDA Forest Service's and the National Park Service's trail layers and OpenStreetMap's trails and bicycle ways, in a Geofabrik extract of October 23, 2026; ground two sources both map counts once.
• Managers. Each trail's manager comes from the managing body's own page first, then the Maine Conserved Lands layer, federal boundaries and the land manager the PAD-US database names; the register says which record named it.
• Rules. Every rule the map applies is quoted from its own text, whether the statute, a manager's rules or pages, or a town's code, retrieved and read October 24, 2026, and every quote was checked against the copy we saved; Limitations lists the trails whose rule we could not read. Local codes were read on eCode360, EnCode Plus and the governments' own sites; 39 of 51 local governments' rules were read, covering 84.1% of local trail miles.
• The data. Every trail is a row in the register (CSV) with its manager, what its rule says about each class and the rule's source where one was read, and the same rows are published as JSON.
• Demand. The trails and questions on this page were chosen from 3,382 Google and Bing search suggestions, 350 headings from the pages that rank, 37 forum posts read one by one and an 8-prompt AI panel. 684 of those 3,777 map to a section of this page, and the demand ledger lists every row with its source.

By Milad Ghobadibeygvand, BScN (Western University, 2014), Redtail eBikes. Every rule this map quotes was read October 24, 2026, and every quote checked against the copy we saved. Found a rule that has changed since? Email the trail's name and a link to the new rule to support@redtailebikes.com, and we will read that trail's row in the register again.

Limitations

1. Some rules could not be read. On 32.6 mapped miles the rule or posted designation that decides could not be read: town codes we could not open, Mount Agamenticus designations no page we read prints, a Bar Harbor park path the Town's signs decide, and state and federal land whose agency rule was not read. They read gray; the register gives the state default for the town trails and York's and Bar Harbor's own rules for theirs.
2. Manager not on record. 113.9 mapped miles carry no record naming a manager, among them Oodys Road, the Corinna Loop Trail and stretches of the Mountain Division Trail; they are gray.
3. Codes not read. The rules of 12 towns and cities could not be read in full, on 33.4 mapped miles: 25.3 of them read gray for that reason, and 8.1 take their color from a trail's own published rule, such as the Kennebec River Rail Trail's through Hallowell and Farmingdale. Municode answered with a bot check we did not work around, and the register's last column lists what was tried for each government and what each route returned.
4. The Bureau of Parks and Lands. None of the 74 Bureau texts read for this map names an e-bike, so its 417 mapped miles read gray or, where its rule closes a trail, red. A Bureau ruling on e-bikes would change more of this map than any other single rule.
5. Maine Trail Finder. The state's best-known trail directory is not a source here: its terms say its content "may not be published, posted, reproduced, or redistributed by third parties without the express written consent of Maine Trail Finder."
6. Two texts, both printed. Acadia's compendium opens and closes Western Head Road on Isle au Haut, Portland's code bars a vehicle while its definition leaves out human-powered ones, Calais and Lewiston define their terms one way and use them another, and Kennebunk borrows a repealed definition; the map reads those trails gray and the register holds both texts.
7. Our readings, labelled. Where a rule bars a "vehicle" or a "motorized" machine, or a manager designates a natural-surface trail nonmotorized without naming e-bikes, the color is our reading of § 2063(14)(F), and the register marks it so.
8. Regions. MaineDOT's regions follow town lines, so a trail stretch is placed in the region that holds its midpoint, and a county can sit in two regions.
9. Rules still moving. The map reads 3 local governments' rules adopted or revised in 2025 or 2026. The Revisor's pages for §§ 101 and 2063, extracted October 5, 2026, end the e-bike provisions' history at PL 2021, c. 86, and the legislative sweep found no 2025 or 2026 change.
10. When this map expires. A rule here changes when the Legislature amends § 2063 or § 101, when the Bureau, Baxter's Authority or a park superintendent changes its rules, and when a town, a trail group or a land trust adopts one. Check the verification date at the top of this page before you ride.
11. This is not legal advice. Rules change, and a posted sign at the trail governs. The map reflects the rules as read October 24, 2026.

Image credit: the cover scenes of the Kennebec River Rail Trail were generated with Nano Banana Pro on Playcut (playcut.ai) from a photograph of the trail by Terry Ross (Flickr, CC BY 2.0); their type was set in-house.

The statewide map and the five region maps were drawn from the trail register.

Source register

Every rule quoted on this page is linked where it is quoted, at the section its publisher serves. The primary sources, each retrieved and read October 24, 2026:

• Maine Revised Statutes: 29-A M.R.S. § 101 and § 2063; the contents of Title 29.
• Code of Maine Rules: the Bureau of Parks and Lands' park rules (01-670 ch. 1) and public lands rules (01-670 ch. 51); Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's wildlife management area rule (09-137 ch. 5); the Baxter State Park Authority's rules (94-293 ch. 1).
• The Bureau of Parks and Lands' multi-use rail trail policy and its park and public land pages; MaineDOT's regions.
• Code of Federal Regulations: 36 CFR 261.13, 36 CFR 7.100 and 50 CFR 27.31; the superintendents' compendiums for Acadia and Katahdin Woods and Waters; Acadia's bicycling page.
• The trail groups' and land trusts' own rules: the Eastern Trail, the Kennebec River Rail Trail, Portland Trails, Libby Hill Forest, the Falmouth Land Trust, the University of Maine, Maine Huts & Trails and the Katahdin Region Multi-Use Trail.
• Every town and city rule in the table of town and city rules, each linked to its section or document.

References

Each numbered source links to the text the map quotes, at the deepest page or section its publisher serves. All were read October 24, 2026.

1. Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes: 29-A M.R.S. § 101, § 2063, Title 29 contents.
2. Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Parks and Lands: Rules, chapter 1; Rules, chapter 51; "Policy Statement About Multi-use Rail Trails"; Whistle Stop Trail; Kennebec Highlands Public Land; Bigelow Preserve Public Land.
3. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Rules, chapter 5.
4. Baxter State Park Authority, Rules and Regulations, chapter 1.
5. National Park Service: Acadia National Park, Superintendent's Compendium, "Bicycling", "Carriage Roads"; Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Superintendent's Compendium.
6. Code of Federal Regulations: 36 CFR 261.13; 36 CFR 7.100; 50 CFR 27.31; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge trails.
7. Eastern Trail Management District, Rules and Use Guidelines; Friends of the Kennebec River Rail Trail, Policies and Rules; Portland Trails, Trail Tips & FAQs; Libby Hill Forest Trails, FAQs; Falmouth Land Trust, Property Use and Safety; University of Maine, DeMeritt Forest Trail System; Maine Huts & Trails, Trails; Katahdin Chamber of Commerce, Katahdin Region Multi-Use Trail rules.
8. Town and city codes on eCode360, EnCode Plus and the governments' own sites, each linked in the table of town and city rules and where it is quoted.
9. Town of Carrabassett Valley, Select Board minutes of April 10, 2023; Town of York, Mount Agamenticus Park Regulations (approved May 6, 2024).
10. MaineDOT, regions; Maine Trail Finder, terms of use.