Motocross track closes after decade of dirt biking

Wareham MX, the motocross facility in East Wareham just off Cranberry Highway, is closing after years of providing riders with 30 acres to practice, ride and race on.

The facility announced on Facebook on March 10 that it would be closing this year. The post generated more than 200 comments and 270 shares, as users expressed their devastation at the track’s closure.

For owner and longtime rider Jacob Morrison, the closing wasn’t something he wanted nor expected.

“Really a shock to us,” he said. Morrison explained that he was recently notified that the property’s landlord was not renewing his lease.

“It really bums me out,” Morrison said. “I’m from Wareham, born and raised. … I made riding so strong here.”

Wareham MX attracted about 1,000 different families a year, he said. The track has been officially opened for the past 10 years, but Morrison said people had been riding on the land for a while before that. He ran the business alongside partner BC Atwood, Morrison said.

The track has hosted many riders in its decade of business. Last year, the motocross track saw tragedy as a 13-year-old rider died after an accident at the track.

“Please understand and be patient,” the track posted to Facebook after the accident. “The motocross family needs to stick together and stay strong.”

For many South Coast riders, Wareham MX was the go-to, Morrison said, both for practice and the few races it hosted every year. There’s another motocross track in Middleborough, Capeway Rovers, but that track offers more races than open practice time, Morrison said.

Capeway Rovers is where Morrison won his first race — at age 5.

Beyond that, the next closest tracks are in western Massachusetts, he said. For people who want to practice on the dirt close to home, Wareham MX was the place to be.

“Now those people aren’t gonna have anywhere to ride,” Morrison said. “I’ve literally had thousands of phone calls … I’ve had people call me up crying.”

For kids more interested in individual sports than team activities, Morrison said riding is a good outlet. He used to teach riding lessons on Mondays and Tuesdays to new riders just getting the hang of their dirt bikes, he said.

“I was Coach Jake,” he said, “and now, I don’t know what they’re gonna do.”

Morrison isn’t giving up on motocross though. He said he’s working on another project, a 300-acre property in Sterling, Connecticut that will have a handful of dirt-bike tracks, similar to Wareham MX. If there’s another plot of land available in Wareham, he could pursue opening a local track elsewhere, keeping the sport alive in town.

“It’s been a great thing for the town,” he said. “I would love to keep it in Wareham.”