West Monroe MX & Family Fun Park

West Monroe MX and Family Fun Park packs a lot of dirt into its corner of Ouachita Parish. The motocross track runs just under a mile with 16 turns and a jump menu that keeps every lap busy: six doubles, five tabletops, two step-ups, and a whoop section, all cut into north Louisiana's red clay and sand mix that leans clay when it's prepped. Dirt bikes and quads both get track time, and the racing ladder starts at 50cc peewees, so this is a place to grow up riding.

Summer belongs to the Jalapeno Summer Series, the track's signature program: Saturdays are practice days, Sundays are race days, and the pits fill up with families making a weekend of it. The park has also hosted rounds of the Louisiana Motocross State Championship, so the gate drops here mean something beyond bragging rights. Between race weekends, practice runs $20 a rider.

The Family Fun Park half of the name is earned. There's a mud pit for the mud crowd, overnight camping with RV hookups, bike rentals, and concessions running on event weekends. They even host birthday parties. Bruce and the crew answer at (318) 348-2608, and the Facebook page carries the current schedule, so check before you load up.