Posts
722
Joined
4/30/2018
Location
Sammamish, WA
US
HusqFan3
5/14/2018 9:28pm
5/14/2018 9:28pm
I’ve noticed quite a few posters on here seem to be from PNW area so hoping a few of you might be willing to help educate me on tracks in the area. I live in Seattle area(Sammamish) and just recently got back into riding. I picked up a new FC250 a month ago and so far have taken her to Evergreen(meh), Pacific(decent), and Oak Harbor MX(not great but inlaws live on Whidbey so awesome for breaking away from fam for couple hours).
Anyways, all these have been ok but definitely have left me wanting more. Most of not all other tracks are 2-3hrs away so i would love to get input from those of you in the area so i can make an informed decision on where i should plan to head next. I’m open to any/all opinions but mostly interested in tracks in western Washington given my location. Specific tracks I’m hoping to hear input on in no particular order are The Ridge, Ward Creek, Burnt Ridge(think it may have closed), Riverdale, Woodland, Washougal.
With that said, any chance i could talk all you MX loving Washingtonians out there to rank, in order, your top 5 tracks in Washington with pros/cons of each?
Thanks in advance for everyone’s input. Plan to use this information to chart out this summer’s riding schedule!!!
Cheers!
Anyways, all these have been ok but definitely have left me wanting more. Most of not all other tracks are 2-3hrs away so i would love to get input from those of you in the area so i can make an informed decision on where i should plan to head next. I’m open to any/all opinions but mostly interested in tracks in western Washington given my location. Specific tracks I’m hoping to hear input on in no particular order are The Ridge, Ward Creek, Burnt Ridge(think it may have closed), Riverdale, Woodland, Washougal.
With that said, any chance i could talk all you MX loving Washingtonians out there to rank, in order, your top 5 tracks in Washington with pros/cons of each?
Thanks in advance for everyone’s input. Plan to use this information to chart out this summer’s riding schedule!!!
Cheers!
Check out the ridge and gray harbor orv washougal Riverdale motowest. Opmc is worthy whenever they run practices. Yes burnt ridge closed like 2 years ago it was a favorite track.
Burnt ridge was awesome, heard that it closed as well (bummer).
Riverdale is great-multiple tracks, and Dan and Audrey are top shelf people. Love supporting them.
Horn Rapids is a lot of fun in the spring and fall. Being born and raised in the NW of the PNW I am a wuss when it comes to anything above 90 degrees, so I don’t go there much in the summer.
The Ridge and a bunch of the newer tracks in SW WA are new to me as I just got back into MX after 4 years off. Looking forward to checking them out.
Hitting Hannegan Thurs night, first time I’ve been there since about 02-03...
The Shop
I’d rather ride a dude than ride Horn Rapids. Ray has ruined that place.
The first time we went to Horn it was awesome. Fun layout.....pretty safe, etc. This last time it sucked. All the jumps were peaked out and watched a guy get hauled off in the ambulance.
Horn is my second fav but only in late fall and early spring like Oct and March.
Being in Sammamish you are only 2 hours to I-90 in George. Its a cool track with VERY casual atmosphere lol. lots of jumps though. Pretty fast doubles and rythyms.
I really like motowest, good flow and close. dirt is meh but they prep it well.
Riverdale is OK but for me it is either to wet or to dry and I get bored easily there. again close drive.
Ridge is still finding its flow but its big. kinda rocky but everything in W. Wash is rocky.
Except Ward creek. that is a really fun track because of its natural terrain and dirt.
GHORV is meh. Close and easy but the operator is a douche.
Woodland is still one of the best tracks soil and lay out wise.
The biggest issue with tracks here is you really have to drive pretty far to go to most of the decent tracks. I lived in NW Indiana for years and you get spoiled by tracks everywhere and the amazing dirt. IMO try to make it to Washougal though...very fun track compared to most in the area! Mountain view is one i really would like to make it down to but its a far drive.
If it's really windy and gusting good then jumping gets scary. Same kind of thing happens at airway i wouldn't place airway above horn they are about the same. I've ridden both plenty airway has gotten pretty crappy lots of complaints about them not maintaining the track well last few years.
Washougal is a gas to ride and the setting is incredible. Always a good day there.
First off... for your location, you should be in a pretty good position for the winters. You have Monroe AX (NW AX Series) nearby, and you should be able to get over to the other side of the state for good riding when everything in the west is underwater. The bad news.... your drive back home in the Summer from pretty much Olympia north on a Sunday afternoon is going to blow. Ride on Saturdays if you can and it won't be as bad.
I don't want to step on any toes or offend any friends, but I'll try to stick to the facts. Some tracks are better at certain times of the year, so there is definitely room to fit all of them in. I don't believe in "track monogamy" lol! I don't think I can really put these in order, because they all seem to have their redeeming qualities. I think it will become pretty clear what my opinions are without me rank ordering them lol. I'm a solid +30B, +40B rider, and generally 95-100 % of the bigger jumps at most tracks.
The Ridge: This is my go-to, because it's close to my house and something about the flow of this track just agrees with me. It has fast sections, slow sections, inside/outside options with some wicked big berms, and Chris (the manager) is a racer who puts a LOT of thought into shaping that track. Some fun bowl turns too. FLOW is the word that comes to mind when I think of Ridge. The best part of Ridge is coming over the top of the big hill. You just float over the top and drop back down to the landing. My laps are a little under two minutes, so it's a good length. The only bad part is that as a new facility, the rocks just keep coming up out of the dirt in a few sections. Ridge is summer-only, and is the only AMA series in the state.
OPMC: I've only been there twice, and both times I loved it. It has three main sections - an upper level on a hilltop, a lower level in a field, and a section on the side of a hill. I call the hillside section the "roller coaster," it has tables, step-ups and doubles. These aren't hard jumps, but they are so fun because it's up, down, up, down through the whole section. The other sections are more traditional, but give it a very nice length and long laptimes with good flow and a variety of fast and slow sections. They run their own series as well as practice days. Totally worth the trip, even if you don't go often. Awesome dark brown dirt and they seem to have a longer season than the other Western tracks.
Washougal: The 'Shoug! I've only raced there once, but it's definitely a bucket list even with a long drive. At my skill level I thought it was a lot of fun, but the dirt is harder and slicker than you may expect from seeing it on TV. The shadows are rough. And Horsepower Hill is twice as steep and big, but that just makes it even more awesome! I've heard that practice days are so busy you don't get much seat time though. For me, the distance and crowds relegate this from being a mainstay in my riding- I've heard that they easily have 5-7 groups on practice days, so do the math on how much seat time that works out to. I'll go back to race, but I'd rather stay closer to home and get in more motos. Summer Only.
Ward Creek: Not much race activity, but man this is a fun track to ride if you make the trip for a practice day. It has incredible terrain changes, I sort of think of it as "Baby Washougal" without the whoops or big jumps. Some of the sections are a little tight, but it's a safe and fun track with long laptimes. Hard clay, summer only. There is a WOTMX vet race there in July, it's a two-day event and they are supposed to be really chill/fun.
Riverdale: Riverdale has grown like crazy in the past two years, with the "main" outdoor track joined by a smaller arena track, beginners areas, a vintage track that should be close to done and another advanced-level track that was build over the winter, but is apparently being tamed down a bit. Riverdale hosted a winter series and is ride-able in the wet. It is at its best in the spring and fall when there is plenty of moisture in the ground. What I love about Riverdale is that you can get as much seat time as you want between all of those different tracks. Dirt is volcanic ash and soaks up water well. Year round.
Gray's Harbor (formerly Straddleline): I have a love hate relationship with this track. I love the dirt (it was resurfaced in late 2016), and I actually like the ruts when they disc it deep and water. But, for me the feel is... weird? Up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill. Big sweeping turns (quad riders delight) or super tight ones that they just added in last year to try and slow it down. It feels like an odd mix. I'm going to sound like an old man here, but the jumps are what annoy me. They are either tiny, or just big enough to be a pain in the ass to get over cleanly for me. A lot of the landings are also short/steep with little room for error. Maybe I suck, but something about it just never makes me feel like I am really digging it. The promoter told me last season that they intended to bring in a professional crew this year to completely re-do the main track. I don't know if that's happened, but it would be nice to have some changes and maybe make it longer, somehow. Props here -- it's a really nice facility with real bathrooms, plenty of shade and a gravel parking lot. I'm looking forward to going back to see what's changed this year.
Motowest: This track is in Bremerton, you might be able to get there by ferry from Seattle with a minimal amount of pain. I'm going there Saturday and have been told there are a lot of renovations to the layout for this season (I was told they are making it longer, which is a good thing). It's a good track, fairly short, that has always seemed to be friendly to the lower skill levels. I believe they run Thursday practices in the season as well. Summer Only.
Woodland: Winter only! I've done modern and vintage there. It's a small track on a relatively flat piece of land. It soaks up water extremely well. It can literally rain all night, stop for two hours, and then the track is rideable. It is sandy and on those rare dry-ish days, it can be epic.
Pacific Raceways: It's close to Seattle, they do Wednesday practice and Friday races. The Friday race program goes extremely quickly and is definitely a sprint mentality. Basically a flat field though, but each time I've been they have changed up the layout to try and keep it interesting. I'd probably go there more but it doesn't really fit with my work/commute schedule. Summer Only.
Pomeroy Vintage Memorial Track (Tieton, WA) - This is vintage only, but they have play days that are open to modern. It's basically a beginner track, and run by a really nice volunteer crew over - they love the sport.
Eastern -- Horn Rapids, I 90, etc - I've never been to either, but I hear great things about them both, especially in the winter.
Evergreen - Never been.
And BTW, I have video of all of these on my Youtube if you want to get a better feel for them: https://www.youtube.com/user/markswart
Also make sure to follow these tracks and PNW MX on Facebook to stay up to date. See you out there!
This year the Washington old timers race is at ward creek the weekend after washougal (the oregon round).
Washougal practices i can get 4 15 min practices in when signing up for one class. I just wish they'd stop the 50cc class on the main track it's usually only 8 kids total with half of them barely able to ride and it slows everything down.
And besides, it was either write about moto or do work at work lol! Hope to bump into you at the track some day! I'm practicing Motowest Sunday, then plan to race vintage there next Saturday and modern at Ridge on Sunday. Busy weekend!
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