Prairie City OHV Park

Rancho Cordova, CA

HANGTOWN MOTOCROSS CLASSIC

Founded in March 1968, the Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club (DDNMC) embarked on a plan to present a motocross competition that would bring top riders to Northern California. As a result, the Hangtown Motocross Classic was born. The first DDNMC race was held at Murray’s Ranch outside of Placerville in 1969. The race took its name from the Gold Rush days, when Placerville was known as “Hangtown.” With a turnout of about 150 sportsman riders and 30 pros, the event (with its $600 pro purse) set the stage for Hangtown’s future.

The race eventually outgrew the sleepy hillsides of Placerville,  and in 1979 the Club and the Sacramento County Department of Parks and Recreation put together a permanent facility at the Prairie City OHV Park in Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento.

Eventually, the State OHV Department took control of the park and, in conjunction with DDNMC, has provided permanent sprinklers, fencing, restrooms, running water, gazebos, a state-of-the-art announcing tower, and other facilities.

While Hangtown predates the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, a national series was the dream of the founders 50 years ago. The DDNMC is proud to own and produce the longest-running motocross national of all, the Hangtown Motocross Classic. It remains the only event on the schedule still run by a motorcycle club.