Hemond's MX & Offroad Park

Hemond’s MX & Offroad Park in Minot, Maine is the biggest moto property in the state: 660 acres on Woodman Hill Road (Route 119) just northwest of Lewiston and Auburn, about 45 minutes from Portland and two and a half hours from Boston. Mike Hemond opened it in 2002 and the family still runs it, and the scale lets the place do things a 40-acre track cannot.

There are two full motocross tracks. Sawmill MX is the national-style track built in 2005, set on a hill so every obstacle follows the grade, long downhill dives into steep climbs, bikes only and best for intermediate to expert riders. Hilltop MX is the original 2002 track, since reversed, lengthened and rebuilt with more terrain and a watering system, and it takes bikes, ATVs and UTVs from beginners to experts. A kids track with small obstacles and a flat Stacyc track for balance bikes mean a family can have three riders at three levels going at once. Wrapped around the tracks is the Offroad Park, 10 to 12 miles of trail across the property with mud holes, rock crawls, single track for bikes and color-graded 4x4 lines from green to double black, open to bikes, ATVs, UTVs and OHVs.

MX practice is bikes only on announced days at $40 to $50 per rider, posted on the Facebook page. The Offroad Park is $20 per person including your machine, open daily 9 AM to dusk in season, but by reservation only: call 207-346-6200 a day ahead because nobody is staffing the gate on non-event days. Trails are daylight only, helmets and full gear are required, and UTV and OHV riders carry extra rules on registration, roll cages, seat belts and recovery gear. Camping is allowed on event weekends with raised fire pits only and generators off at 11 PM, and the restroom block has hot showers.

The race calendar mixes Maine Motocross Series rounds with the park’s own weekends: Spring Break in May, Camp 4x4 in July, and Harvest Fest in early October with pit bike racing and the $500 Patra Moto Limbo. The Maine Motocross School offers private lessons with USMCA-certified coach Craig Michaud, and the facility rents out for private events.