Spring Creek Motocross Park

Spring Creek Motocross Park is hallowed ground: nearly 500 acres in the Mississippi River Valley at Millville, Minnesota, along the Zumbro River, and home to some of the richest, deepest loam on the entire pro circuit. Ask any pro and they will tell you this place is brutal in the best way. Mt. Martin is a 300-foot vertical climb, named for the owners, that punishes engines and riders alike; the Millville Whoops are a deep, rolling sand monster laid down by Spring Creek's floods and widely called one of the gnarliest sections in the sport; and between them you get massive tables, fast sweepers, and dramatic elevation drops.

The history runs deep. The land started as a flood-prone farm, Grant Marquardt ran a hillclimb here in 1967, Perry Hendricks built the first real track in 1976, and on August 28, 1983, it hosted its first AMA Pro Motocross National, with Danny Chandler taking the win. The Spring Creek National has run every year since. In the late 1980s, former factory racer John Martin and his wife Greta bought the place and turned it into a true stadium facility with multi-story announcing towers, viewing decks, and VIP suites, and raised sons Alex and Jeremy Martin on the property (Jeremy went on to win back-to-back 250 National titles in 2014 and 2015).

Today the crown jewel is still the Spring Creek National, Round 7 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, which turns a town of under 200 people into a city of tens of thousands. Locals know to line the fences and cool off right in Spring Creek as the bikes scream by. Make a weekend of it: high-demand primitive RV and tent camping sits right next to the track, plus permanent flushing restrooms, a kids' playground, sports courts, solid cell service, and the legendary Pit Stop concessions area, where more than 40 years of championship history hangs on the walls.