Dutchmen MX Park in PA Worth the Drive?

The trick with PA tracks is to show up 45-60 mins after the advertised start time (usually 10, so hit Sheetz and plan on 11) because pretty much most PA track operators have a habit of oversaturating, and deep disking that dark red (almost purple) dirt they have there.  

That way, it develops those ruts that lay over vertical, and doesn't get migrant dust by 130.  

Man, if you guys could have seen Dutchmen in the 70's and 80's... whew.   Winter Enduro demo derby on the oval track.....  😵   One of the gnarliest races I ever did was a hare scramble there in the snow on top of semi-thawed mud and field grass with ruts up to the seat.... lol

Just watched video of the track, is it worth the drive?? Where do you live, the moon??? Track looks amazing get your ass over there!

It’s our closest decent track, we’ll be there Saturday. Scott and his family took it over a year or so ago and are good people and always looking to make it better and keep riders happy. Depending on prep and turnout it’ll definitely rut up. The guys comment above about PA track prep is not totally wrong lol. They have decent dirt but there will be a rock or two (it’s PA there’s no escaping that) They will groom before of course and usually groom and water midway through the day. They split practice but you should still get plenty of seat time. There’s actually a lot of other tracks running this weekend so may not be packed. It’s kind of an unanswerable question regarding the drive, it would highly depend on if you like the track or don’t. My son is a 16 year old B rider and I’m a 46 yr old B rider and we both enjoy it. Hopefully this helps. 

Zero elevation change. It is worlds better than it was back in the 90s though. It was just coal dirt back then. They have a fairly long beginner track too for new riders, at least they did, I assume they still have that. 

4.5 is a hike for any track but Dutchmen is really good as long as you like ruts and don't mind a couple big jumps. They do typically water and disc it pretty deep for the morning and let it ride for the day other than water if it starts to dry out.  

Doublin gap running practice, happy ramblers d6, tomahawk masters, Evansville sx, rocket mx practice. 

Go to the oak motocross park, awesome place. Check it on facebook. It’s in coalport, PA

I really want to check that place out.

At that drive length, I would go to southwick. Field of dreams and E-Town not cutting it? 

I am in the same boat . We usually do FOD or eTown . We are going to make the ride to Dutchman tomorrow to see how it is . 

FOD with the new owners has been good . I know a couple of years ago they steepened all of the faces but that is not the case anymore . They have some  good changes since taking over . I am 66 and enjoy it . 

For NJ tracks we might only have FOD not sure how much longer E-Town will be open . I hear they want to put houses up . Time will tell. 

Not sure where in NJ you are, but The Landing MX in Easton, MD might be an option for you. They’re only open on Sundays, though. 

Oof, yeah it’s not that good!  Especially given the forecast for Sunday. Let us know what you think of Dutchmen - I haven’t been but it’s on the list. The Tuesday open practices are appealing 

I am on a KTM 349 .

YouTube video of this week at Dutchmen (Tuesday)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D37UCNf17gU

The west coast mind cannot comprehend.  😄

She’s deep today 🤣

I am in the same boat this weekend.. no practice at FOD or Etown, so will be just wrenching on the bikes over the weekend. Since Etown has been cutting back on number of practice days, I have also been looking for another track (I am in North Jersey). I am 66, but I like the bigger jumps and steep faces and can't stand the way they have started building the jumps. Agree with you on the FOD "vet" track.. 2 laps on it and I am bored out of my mind.  Both FOD and Etown have been working hard on the tracks, but I don't like what they are doing with the jumps.

Etown has now removed every tabletop and replaced them with either rhythm doubles or put obstacles before the jumps to try and trip you up to make it hard to get over even small jumps. They are trying to slow everyone down, but that is not the way to make a track safer. They have put so much crap going into the woods section to try and make it hard to get over that tiny double. They have turned it into a supercross track with 3 long rhythm double sections. Of the remaining little tabletops they had, they dug out the middle so it will hurt if you come up short, like they just did to the former double-table after the finish line. It was much safer before with the same air time, now it is a true triple. I miss their old track designs of years past.. only really fun jump left at Etown is the staircase.

FOD has changed up most of their jumps and added a few more. I was there this past Wednesday. I like some, but others not so much. The idea of making very short, long tabletops with shallow jump faces and placing them right out of a corner forces you to seat bounce and hit the jump with everything you got to clear the distance. I just find that slamming a laid down jump face to jump 70-75 feet just a 18"-24" feet off the ground is too much work without the thrill reward for this old man. FOD now has 4 jumps like that. They still do have several fun jumps left, so they are not all gone like at Etown.

I raced D-6 Hare Scrambles there in early/mid 80s and that place was always sloppy with mud and sometimes dry and dusty: nothing in between. I remember plowing through soupy mud that was up to my footpegs and nearly falling off the trail into the creek. I never enjoyed those races but I did pretty well. Been meaning to stop by sometime when I get back there to visit family. Thanks Ducon39 for posting that video. 

For hare scrambles it hasn’t changed! Either just a sloppy mud fest or so dusty you can’t see. 

That place is on my list of tracks to hit up this summer. I’m in northern Virginia so a bit of a drive. 

Breezewood Proving Grounds looks really good as well. I’m pretty sure I'm going to check it out before Dutchman. 

How did it turn out ?

I believe Dutchmen cancelled practice today due to rain here. 

I went Saturday struggled a little in the beginning but started  to get better with the ruts . A few jumps I was Leary of but a good day . If I was a racer I would surely be back as it would be good rut practice . During the day they did cleanup some sections . Overall I would say a good track.