Metcalf Motorcycle Park – The south bay moto jewel. Metcalf Motorcycle Park
Yesterday I headed down to visit the park at which I understood a staff member for Dave Cortese /Country Supervisor was there to discuss the Park’s status with ABC Channel 7. I went down to observe that and see where we could potentially help. Turned out that Tamara Clark who is the Public Information Officer for the Santa Clara County Parks Department was the attendee chatting with the news guy.
The County has recently been bitten by California State Budget crises and grant funding for Metcalf is being whacked. This is leaving the County in a tough position on how to keep the Park open. Currently you can pay $6 bucks a day for each off road vehicle and go out and ride. $80 for a yearlong pass. Really a good deal.
Metcalf is the County park system's only off-road vehicle park. It is a 459-acre park and is located in the foothills off Metcalf Road in south San Jose east of US Highway 101. It is the only park that can be quickly accessed from the South Bay area.
Metcalf Park offers trails for the advanced and beginner motorcyclist and ATV rider. There you will find 20 miles of dirt trails, motocross tracks and a Quarter Midget track for the 4 wheel types. It is well set up and offers picnic areas and restroom facilities.
After unloading and heading out you will find a thousand foot high ridge that afford riders vistas ranging from Gilroy to San Francisco.
The park facilities include:
A Motocross competition track
A Mini-motocross track (150cc four stroke or 100cc two stroke or less)
A Beginner's oval
12 miles of main trails (beginners/intermediate)
8 miles of single track enduro (expert) trails
A Hill climb area
A Trials course
It also has a 1/20th mile paved oval track operated by the Baylands Quarter Midget Racing Association, for quarter midget racing and practice.
On the weekend you will find the Cruising Café around doling out food too.
The park is very well maintained and staffed by Park Rangers. Mike Ruhstorfer (pictured below) has been a Park Ranger for 14 years and leads Junior OHV Rangers Program – Here is a snippet from their website on that.
“Jr. Ranger Programs run for six consecutive weeks, meeting on Saturday starting at 9:00 am, for three hours and will be offered at Metcalf Motorcycle County Park during the spring and fall (Fall 2011 program starts on 9/17/11 through 10/29/11 campout on 10/5-6/11 except for 10/08/11 for a race). During the program, Jr. Rangers will be introduced to six different topics: Duties of a Ranger, Natural Resources, Plant Life, Wildlife, Habitats, and Ohlone Native Americans. Through various hands-on activities, games, hikes and rides Jr. Rangers will learn ways to help preserve and protect their local Parks. Activities include: learning to identify animal prints and pick out signs that tell when an animal has been in the area; learning how to be a responsible rider; and understanding how animals and humans depend upon the natural world for survival”.
This place is a great place for families to enjoy the off road life and each other.
Some great pics of the facility being used here:
South Bay Riders Forum
Now that you got a little back round info on the park I want to touch on the afternoon.
Several interested parties showed up at the track for the press event. A couple from SBR, some from barf, some independent folks who just care about the park staying open. The event itself was not much of an “event”, but that is fine. Getting the chance to talk to the Rangers, the folks interested in supporting Metcalf and a few of the riders at the Park was good. Some of the general public had no clue that the Park funding was disrupted and now they are aware of it and awareness is good.
Charles Statman was another individual interviewed by ABC. This moto riding Dad was there for one reason. Hoping to share his views on the Park and make sure he and his son can continue to ride there in the future. He spoke well on camera.. hope his interview does not end up on the editors floor.
I was impressed of course by the diversity of the folks enjoying the park. Families, old guys, young guys, ladies, girls etc.. a lot of people were out riding :thumbup
I was also impressed by the Ranger staff. These folks care.. they enjoy their jobs and that is very cool. The Park is well maintained and looking good.
Keeping this facility open is important to me and others. Butch spoke well when chatting about how important is the dirt for street riders skills. Starting as a kid in the dirt will make you a better street rider. Deon Campbell now an aspiring professional showed up with Dad to support the Park. A perfect example of skills moving up the ladder and being well used.
The show will air on ABC in a week or so and I will hopefully find that info and provide it to you guys so you can watch it.
For now if you have not ridden Metcalf you may want to.. it is indeed a little jewel. That last left that is close to us.
When I grew up in the So. Bay in the late sixties and early seventies we had lots of place to ride.
• Palo Alto Baylands (now a Nature preserve)
• Police Athletic facility in Sunnyvale (eventually Santa Clara and now gone of course)
• Vacant lots all over the South Bay too.
• 3rd Avenue in Burlingame offered sand tracks.
• Baylands Raceway in Fremont (now closed).
I could roll my little Yamaha Mini Enduro a few blocks and go under HWY 101 and enjoy the whole day riding.
As society closed in so did the areas to ride and now as a kid pretty much you need Mom or Dad to pack you up and drive to Metcalf, Hollister or Carnegie. Losing Metcalf would be a bitter pill for many of those families and others that can take an afternoon off work and have a few hours of fun.
Likely fees will have to be increased and the County will have some tough decisions to keep the facility open. Doing so is important to the future of the sport in the So. Bay and certainly if closed it would have a negative impact on both the Moto biz economy as some families may choose not to pursue the sport because of the distance involved in enjoying the ride.
Stay tuned.
Yesterday I headed down to visit the park at which I understood a staff member for Dave Cortese /Country Supervisor was there to discuss the Park’s status with ABC Channel 7. I went down to observe that and see where we could potentially help. Turned out that Tamara Clark who is the Public Information Officer for the Santa Clara County Parks Department was the attendee chatting with the news guy.
The County has recently been bitten by California State Budget crises and grant funding for Metcalf is being whacked. This is leaving the County in a tough position on how to keep the Park open. Currently you can pay $6 bucks a day for each off road vehicle and go out and ride. $80 for a yearlong pass. Really a good deal.
Metcalf is the County park system's only off-road vehicle park. It is a 459-acre park and is located in the foothills off Metcalf Road in south San Jose east of US Highway 101. It is the only park that can be quickly accessed from the South Bay area.
Metcalf Park offers trails for the advanced and beginner motorcyclist and ATV rider. There you will find 20 miles of dirt trails, motocross tracks and a Quarter Midget track for the 4 wheel types. It is well set up and offers picnic areas and restroom facilities.
After unloading and heading out you will find a thousand foot high ridge that afford riders vistas ranging from Gilroy to San Francisco.
The park facilities include:
A Motocross competition track
A Mini-motocross track (150cc four stroke or 100cc two stroke or less)
A Beginner's oval
12 miles of main trails (beginners/intermediate)
8 miles of single track enduro (expert) trails
A Hill climb area
A Trials course
It also has a 1/20th mile paved oval track operated by the Baylands Quarter Midget Racing Association, for quarter midget racing and practice.
On the weekend you will find the Cruising Café around doling out food too.
The park is very well maintained and staffed by Park Rangers. Mike Ruhstorfer (pictured below) has been a Park Ranger for 14 years and leads Junior OHV Rangers Program – Here is a snippet from their website on that.
“Jr. Ranger Programs run for six consecutive weeks, meeting on Saturday starting at 9:00 am, for three hours and will be offered at Metcalf Motorcycle County Park during the spring and fall (Fall 2011 program starts on 9/17/11 through 10/29/11 campout on 10/5-6/11 except for 10/08/11 for a race). During the program, Jr. Rangers will be introduced to six different topics: Duties of a Ranger, Natural Resources, Plant Life, Wildlife, Habitats, and Ohlone Native Americans. Through various hands-on activities, games, hikes and rides Jr. Rangers will learn ways to help preserve and protect their local Parks. Activities include: learning to identify animal prints and pick out signs that tell when an animal has been in the area; learning how to be a responsible rider; and understanding how animals and humans depend upon the natural world for survival”.
This place is a great place for families to enjoy the off road life and each other.
Some great pics of the facility being used here:
South Bay Riders Forum
Now that you got a little back round info on the park I want to touch on the afternoon.
Several interested parties showed up at the track for the press event. A couple from SBR, some from barf, some independent folks who just care about the park staying open. The event itself was not much of an “event”, but that is fine. Getting the chance to talk to the Rangers, the folks interested in supporting Metcalf and a few of the riders at the Park was good. Some of the general public had no clue that the Park funding was disrupted and now they are aware of it and awareness is good.
Charles Statman was another individual interviewed by ABC. This moto riding Dad was there for one reason. Hoping to share his views on the Park and make sure he and his son can continue to ride there in the future. He spoke well on camera.. hope his interview does not end up on the editors floor.
I was impressed of course by the diversity of the folks enjoying the park. Families, old guys, young guys, ladies, girls etc.. a lot of people were out riding :thumbup
I was also impressed by the Ranger staff. These folks care.. they enjoy their jobs and that is very cool. The Park is well maintained and looking good.
Keeping this facility open is important to me and others. Butch spoke well when chatting about how important is the dirt for street riders skills. Starting as a kid in the dirt will make you a better street rider. Deon Campbell now an aspiring professional showed up with Dad to support the Park. A perfect example of skills moving up the ladder and being well used.
The show will air on ABC in a week or so and I will hopefully find that info and provide it to you guys so you can watch it.
For now if you have not ridden Metcalf you may want to.. it is indeed a little jewel. That last left that is close to us.
When I grew up in the So. Bay in the late sixties and early seventies we had lots of place to ride.
• Palo Alto Baylands (now a Nature preserve)
• Police Athletic facility in Sunnyvale (eventually Santa Clara and now gone of course)
• Vacant lots all over the South Bay too.
• 3rd Avenue in Burlingame offered sand tracks.
• Baylands Raceway in Fremont (now closed).
I could roll my little Yamaha Mini Enduro a few blocks and go under HWY 101 and enjoy the whole day riding.
As society closed in so did the areas to ride and now as a kid pretty much you need Mom or Dad to pack you up and drive to Metcalf, Hollister or Carnegie. Losing Metcalf would be a bitter pill for many of those families and others that can take an afternoon off work and have a few hours of fun.
Likely fees will have to be increased and the County will have some tough decisions to keep the facility open. Doing so is important to the future of the sport in the So. Bay and certainly if closed it would have a negative impact on both the Moto biz economy as some families may choose not to pursue the sport because of the distance involved in enjoying the ride.
Stay tuned.
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