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 sand whoops are a deep, rolling monster laid down by Spring Creek 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. 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. In 1988 John Martin, a former Can-Am and ATK factory racer and 1985 National Hare Scrambles Champion, and his wife Greta bought the 56-acre track from Hendricks and grew it into one of the premier motocross facilities in the world, raising Alex, Jeremy and Jennifer on the property (Jeremy won back-to-back 250 National titles in 2014 and 2015). The Pit Stop concession building holds thirty-plus years of national championship photos, posters and programs going back to Bob Hannah in 1983.

The crown jewel is the FXR Spring Creek National, Round 7 of AMA Pro Motocross, which turns a town of under 200 people into a city of tens of thousands each July, with amateur racing on Friday and Sunday, a Friday night pit bike race on the KTM track and live bands. The rest of the season belongs to the FXR Spring Creek Super Series, eleven rounds of MN D23 racing from May to October, plus Old Man Madness for the vets in June, the Viking Clash purse race on Labor Day weekend and the D23 Premier Event finale. A regular weekend opens the gate Friday at 5 PM, runs open practice Saturday (sign-up 8 AM, pro track 10 to 5, $40 or $30 after 3, bikes only, AMA card required) and races Sunday from 9 AM with the pee-wees on Track 2 at 8:45. Gate is $10, race entry $35 online by Friday or $40 at the track, beginner classes $25 on the peewee track, and awards go one per three riders.

Make a weekend of it. Primitive camping is $25 per vehicle per night, first come first served (the electric sites are spoken for with a waiting list), with an RV dump station, potable water fills, flushing air-conditioned restrooms, a playground, volleyball and basketball courts, trout fishing in a registered trout stream and a sandy beach on Spring Creek to cool off. Small campfires are allowed most weekends with firewood $5 a bundle at the gate, quiet hours are 10 PM to 6 AM, pets stay leashed and out of the spectator areas, outside alcohol stays home, and races are called from the first-turn tower on FM radio. Pit vehicles need a $30 weekend pass ($200 for the season), an 18-plus licensed driver and a signed waiver, and are not allowed on Fridays. Minneapolis is an hour and fifteen minutes away and Rochester 45 minutes.