Abandoned or forgotten tracks

romseyracer 11/17/2016 2:18pm
11/17/2016 2:18pm


Ladies mile . GP track Hampshire Great Britain .
2
Ramrod
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Ramrod 11/17/2016 2:30pm
11/17/2016 2:30pm
BSFL wrote:
Abandoned but not forgotten. Texas has not been the same to me since these tracks closed. Lake Whitney [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160283/s1200_LakeWhitney.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160284/s1200_LakeWhitneyNow.jpg[/img] Mosier Valley [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160285/s1200_Mosier.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160286/s1200_MosierNow.jpg[/img]
Abandoned but not forgotten. Texas has not been the same to me since these tracks closed.

Lake Whitney





Mosier Valley



Why did these tracks close? They both look incredible!
DC
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DC 11/17/2016 2:37pm
11/17/2016 2:37pm
when were you there?

Last November, on the way to Kevin Windham's Party in the Pasture... Driving a '67 Bonneville with Nick McCabe that he bought in Marfa, Saw it along the Interstate, pulled over and jumped the fence and shot a few pics. It was like someone just put a padlock on the place one afternoon and never came back.





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Andy_Greenney 11/17/2016 2:57pm
11/17/2016 2:57pm
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I was riding at the sittingbourne track in the early '00s. 2001 & 2002 definitely, maybe in 2003 as well. Who was it who doubled from...
I was riding at the sittingbourne track in the early '00s. 2001 & 2002 definitely, maybe in 2003 as well. Who was it who doubled from that tunnel jump over on to the next table top? Nicky Hopcraft? Maybe Lee Hopcraft? There were a couple who did it, Mark Eastwood as well I think- double page spread of him in the air in the T&MX news.

Had some awesome rides up there. Chris Scurfield was the guy who owned/ran it.

I also rode at and remember Jewels Hill & Stone Lodge. I remember Stone Lodge had to have the jumps built and flattened the same day as the meeting, because of illegal riding there. I don't miss Stone Lodge, still got the scar on my knuckles!

Doubled across the step down and table top??!! I would have to see that to believe its possible, even then I don't think I would believe it.
Toneconsultant 11/17/2016 3:34pm
11/17/2016 3:34pm
Skidaddle wrote:
[img]http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j278/toddhuffman/Sears_Point_1977.jpg[/img] [img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/1499696880_510cecb650.jpg[/img]


Is that Sear's Point?
reded
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reded 11/17/2016 3:39pm
11/17/2016 3:39pm
How awesome is that track? The Kansas Flinthills along the Turnpike look just like that. Throw up some banners to mark a course and lets race!
mx_563
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mx_563 11/17/2016 3:43pm
11/17/2016 3:43pm













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reded
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reded 11/17/2016 5:30pm
11/17/2016 5:30pm
Agency MX between St. Joe and Kansas City was our major loss. While it was no Saddleback or Carlsbad, it did have good elevation changes, good dirt, was laid out well and was also the site of a couple of nationals back in the '70's. It's hardly recognizable today even by Google maps and is truly one of the abandoned but not forgotten tracks.
corsair
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corsair 11/17/2016 6:26pm
11/17/2016 6:26pm
What an outstanding thread! I imagine more than a little reflection and one teary eye amongst our middle age motocross contingent.
PFitzG38
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PFitzG38 11/17/2016 6:55pm
11/17/2016 6:55pm
MBBadgers wrote:
I saw this on another site, look how high the dirt was, in later pics the dirts about 4 feet below the fence. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/17/160392/s1200_Carlsbad_12_1970.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/17/160393/s1200_Carlsbad_MX_Color_Now.jpg[/img]
I saw this on another site, look how high the dirt was, in later pics the dirts about 4 feet below the fence.





Wow, look at that 1970 Carlsbad photo. It actually looks loamy. I didn't hit it for another 8 years and its was already greased lightning or baked adobe by then. I'm lucky enough to live near some world-class tracks open year round, but I still miss Carlsbad and Saddleback
JPT
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JPT 11/17/2016 7:31pm
11/17/2016 7:31pm
The Elk Horn Wisc. track was the home of a bunch of Inter-Ams and Trans-Ams in the early 70s. Great track. Last I heard its a housing development.
robkinuk
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robkinuk 11/18/2016 3:36am
11/18/2016 3:36am
romseyracer wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/17/160419/s1200_image.jpg[/img] Ladies mile . GP track Hampshire Great Britain .


Ladies mile . GP track Hampshire Great Britain .
That's not Ladies Mile GP track, nr Alton Hants. Its Fell Green Bootle Cumbria, another track we lost, together with their other track at Barfield Bootle which was the best track I ever raced on in the UK and used for many a British Championship round.




Fell Green Bootle


Barfield Bootle Cumbria with tarn (lake) at bottom.
Check out my blog on visit to Namur Citadel track below.

https://robkinseyart.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/the-giant-sleeps-namur-ci…
romseyracer 11/18/2016 3:47am
11/18/2016 3:47am
Sorry Rob , thats what you get for late night uploading after a glass or two !
philG
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philG 11/18/2016 4:55am
11/18/2016 4:55am
romseyracer wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/17/160419/s1200_image.jpg[/img] Ladies mile . GP track Hampshire Great Britain .


Ladies mile . GP track Hampshire Great Britain .
robkinuk wrote:
That's not Ladies Mile GP track, nr Alton Hants. Its Fell Green Bootle Cumbria, another track we lost, together with their other track at Barfield Bootle...
That's not Ladies Mile GP track, nr Alton Hants. Its Fell Green Bootle Cumbria, another track we lost, together with their other track at Barfield Bootle which was the best track I ever raced on in the UK and used for many a British Championship round.




Fell Green Bootle


Barfield Bootle Cumbria with tarn (lake) at bottom.
Check out my blog on visit to Namur Citadel track below.

https://robkinseyart.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/the-giant-sleeps-namur-ci…
I thought it looked a bit bleak to be Ladies Mile , but I never went there , its still all there though I think .
Frodad78
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Frodad78 11/18/2016 5:34am
11/18/2016 5:34am
What a fantastic thread. I've always been intrigued by old, abandoned sites. I'm also a sucker for nostalgia so this thread delivers!
Beeby
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Beeby 11/18/2016 6:34am
11/18/2016 6:34am
Sidecar wrote:
Took my Dog for a walk round an old long forgotten, grassed over Motocross track on my lunch break today and I know some of you...
Took my Dog for a walk round an old long forgotten, grassed over Motocross track on my lunch break today and I know some of you on here, like me love these old forgotten tracks, be they former GP/National tracks, club tracks or merely well ridden practice tracks I have seen various posts on here including talk and photos on tracks, favourites being Carlsbad and Saddleback park in the US and Namur on my side of the pond so I thought it was time for a thread dedicated to these parcels of land that once echoed to the sound of battle but now hold no more than ghostly glimpses into moto past, a discarded tear off once nervously applied on a Sunday morning now weather beaten and crinkled in the mud or an old start line pointing towards a now non exsistent first turn....
Show us all your local ghost tracks.

Crick, not used for around 15 years....





Pretty sure there has been races at that track in Crick way more recently than 15 years. Some googling just found results in 2009
RPM68
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RPM68 11/18/2016 7:53am
11/18/2016 7:53am
DC wrote:
when were you there? Last November, on the way to Kevin Windham's Party in the Pasture... Driving a '67 Bonneville with Nick McCabe that he bought...
when were you there?

Last November, on the way to Kevin Windham's Party in the Pasture... Driving a '67 Bonneville with Nick McCabe that he bought in Marfa, Saw it along the Interstate, pulled over and jumped the fence and shot a few pics. It was like someone just put a padlock on the place one afternoon and never came back.





You were right around the corner! Dont pass through Houston without snagging some mexican food!

Pit Row

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CC268
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CC268 11/18/2016 8:08am
11/18/2016 8:08am Edited Date/Time 11/18/2016 8:20am
Speedworld here in AZ was closed years ago. That one really hit home for me. There is a drone video on YouTube of what it looks like now a days. It is really sad. Total ghost town, the tower is all trashed, etc.

Grindingstone was another great track that was closed due to a lawsuit.They put a lot of time and money into that track. Spectacular track actually...I really miss it. Verde Valley closed. AZ motocross has died a lot in the past 5-6 years.
BSFL
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BSFL 11/18/2016 8:38am
11/18/2016 8:38am Edited Date/Time 11/18/2016 9:00am
BSFL wrote:
Abandoned but not forgotten. Texas has not been the same to me since these tracks closed. Lake Whitney [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160283/s1200_LakeWhitney.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160284/s1200_LakeWhitneyNow.jpg[/img] Mosier Valley [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160285/s1200_Mosier.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2016/11/16/160286/s1200_MosierNow.jpg[/img]
Abandoned but not forgotten. Texas has not been the same to me since these tracks closed.

Lake Whitney





Mosier Valley



Ramrod wrote:
Why did these tracks close? They both look incredible!
Lake Whitney primarily closed due to financial reasons and lack of interest from the land owner Bruce Whitehead. Whitehead bought the ranch in 2000 and the land the track was on doubled as a hunting lease. Whitehead didn't have much interest in the track aside from making money off it. That was the beginning of the end for the track. The track was leased to Dave Martin from Honda of Houston from 2000-2006 and then McWilliams of Millcreek until 2010. Ultimately McWilliams parted ways because Whitehead wanted to sale parts of the land for housing development. I guess there just wasn't enough money coming from the track and hunting. The place went to shit during those 10 years and personally I think Whitehead was sick of dealing with it. Attendance was steadily declining over the years and especially the last few years because the economy. Not to mention the serious injuries and deaths over the years did not help. After Ricky James' injury and Jesse Masterpool's death the place lost any bit of life it had left.

Mosier Valley closed because owner Jerry Surber gave up fighting the city of Arlington and Mayor Cluck over the land rezoning. It was Fort Worth and became Arlington after rezoning and the fight was on for the land between Surber and Cluck. Sadly Arlington won in the end.

flymoto
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flymoto 11/18/2016 8:45am
11/18/2016 8:45am
I really do love discovering and re earthing old abandoned tracks. So many awesome tracks on here swallowed up by nature.

Now Namur, god I would of loved to see that place in real person.

It's sad to see the state of motocross now, just looking here we have had many great tracks in the U.K shut down, don't even want to know what it will be like in 30 years time. Didn't realise Ellsworth was such a vast place aswel, looked a mega venue.

There's one I have been meaning to visit it Yorkshire called brown cow, old amca track used in the 90s supposed to be pretty good, built in the pub beer garden/field. Can see remains of it on google earth and vaguely on the m62. , if I ever go I'll be sure to put the pics on here.
Andy_Greenney 11/18/2016 10:33am
11/18/2016 10:33am
flymoto wrote:
I really do love discovering and re earthing old abandoned tracks. So many awesome tracks on here swallowed up by nature. Now Namur, god I would...
I really do love discovering and re earthing old abandoned tracks. So many awesome tracks on here swallowed up by nature.

Now Namur, god I would of loved to see that place in real person.

It's sad to see the state of motocross now, just looking here we have had many great tracks in the U.K shut down, don't even want to know what it will be like in 30 years time. Didn't realise Ellsworth was such a vast place aswel, looked a mega venue.

There's one I have been meaning to visit it Yorkshire called brown cow, old amca track used in the 90s supposed to be pretty good, built in the pub beer garden/field. Can see remains of it on google earth and vaguely on the m62. , if I ever go I'll be sure to put the pics on here.
Elsworth was one of the best tracks in the UK and Andy Lee really knew how to prepare it to perfection. It was only open in the summer so you knew summer had arrived when it opened for the first weekend of the year.
Thisusernameisavailable 11/18/2016 10:57am
11/18/2016 10:57am
Thisusernameisavailable wrote:
I was riding at the sittingbourne track in the early '00s. 2001 & 2002 definitely, maybe in 2003 as well. Who was it who doubled from...
I was riding at the sittingbourne track in the early '00s. 2001 & 2002 definitely, maybe in 2003 as well. Who was it who doubled from that tunnel jump over on to the next table top? Nicky Hopcraft? Maybe Lee Hopcraft? There were a couple who did it, Mark Eastwood as well I think- double page spread of him in the air in the T&MX news.

Had some awesome rides up there. Chris Scurfield was the guy who owned/ran it.

I also rode at and remember Jewels Hill & Stone Lodge. I remember Stone Lodge had to have the jumps built and flattened the same day as the meeting, because of illegal riding there. I don't miss Stone Lodge, still got the scar on my knuckles!

Andy_Greenney wrote:
Doubled across the step down and table top??!! I would have to see that to believe its possible, even then I don't think I would believe...
Doubled across the step down and table top??!! I would have to see that to believe its possible, even then I don't think I would believe it.
It did happen I promise you. I'll do my best to find some photos.
CC268
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CC268 11/18/2016 12:50pm
11/18/2016 12:50pm
Travis_Hudson wrote:
Wow, i raced there.....crazy.
Yea...it is sad. It was all the owners fault though.
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MXVet261
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MXVet261 11/18/2016 1:13pm
11/18/2016 1:13pm
Scenic Highlands in Newcomerstown, Ohio in the 2000s:



Now:


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Travis_Hudson 11/18/2016 1:16pm
11/18/2016 1:16pm
Travis_Hudson wrote:
Wow, i raced there.....crazy.
CC268 wrote:
Yea...it is sad. It was all the owners fault though.
That place was fun! Bummer when good things get jacked up by dum dums.
MXVet261
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MXVet261 11/18/2016 1:19pm
11/18/2016 1:19pm
Kenworthy's, Troy, Ohio



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singletotable88 11/18/2016 1:22pm
11/18/2016 1:22pm
^^^Honda Hills and Grumpy Valley in OH as well.
MXVet261
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MXVet261 11/18/2016 1:27pm
11/18/2016 1:27pm
Honda Hills from another thread on here last year:

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