Youth Rider Day returns to OHV Park on June 21

Local youth motocross riders will rejoice once again as the third Youth Rider Day of the year is slated to return to the track at Pahrump OHV Park.

Starting bright and early from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday morning on June 21, this event is specifically for younger riders on quads 100cc or smaller.

Providing a track for the off-roading community was one of the biggest motivations to get the project completed after a groundbreaking in 2022, according to Brad Harris with Pahrump OHV Park.

“It’s not always the safest thing to have kids riding around on off-sanctioned roads, so to have some of the track finally done is a pretty big step in the coming future of the park,” Harris said.

Due to the extreme heatwave set to be rolling through, Harris said this may be the last Youth Rider Day at OHV Park of the summer. And setting the event for early morning made more sense, too.

“Everyone will have a right to this thing over time; all of us are volunteers so we would love to see other people be able to assist us in growing this project,” Harris said. “My son did motocross and raced for years. It’s good, healthy, clean fun and got me going back in the day and still does. My son is 30 now and still rides. I know what it does for kids and it’s one of the best sports out there.”

Last March, the Pahrump Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park Advisory Committee hosted youth riders for the first time on its newly completed track.

Originally constructed as a small loop for kids, the youth track that opened in March has been moved north and is now part of the the larger track that features a small jump.

Park Advisory Committee chairman Jimmy Lewis said an adult-sized course is planned for the park.

“The original grant request was around $270,000 dollars for the park’s completion,” Lewis said.

According to Lewis, the park was recently granted an additional $88,000 dollars to help fund the completion of the new adult track.

Lewis recognized the community’s initial concerns regarding noise and dust pollution but said people were pleasantly surprised when they arrived to see the kids’ track in action.

“I think frankly they were really surprised. You know, I think people expected something completely different. All they saw was a bunch of smiling kids. There was no dust and just a little bit of noise,” Lewis said.

To mitigate the sound expelled from riders’ OHVs, the park’s chairman said that Pahrump OHV Park is planning to construct a sound barrier wall that will extend from the south side to the west side of the 40 acres that outline the fairgrounds.

Due in thanks to the help of the town’s park water trucks, the OHV Park is able to keep the dirt damp leading up to planned events.

“Having lived here for 15 years, I see the growth of the community and with Mountain Falls expanding and another community being built down in that area, it’s like ‘hey, we’ve got to be good neighbors’.”

The grant funding for the completion of the park was pulled from the Nevada Off-Highway Vehicle Commission’s funds from the OHV sticker program. The county said they would match the grant and give 40 acres of land in the southern end of Pahrump off State Route 160.

“Three and a half years into the completion of the project I was frustrated. I think, like everybody else, because we saw all this money being spent, and we didn’t necessarily have a place to ride yet. We decided, ‘hey, let’s get a kids track up,’” Lewis said. And for me, that was huge because that was when I got appointed to the position on the committee. I said, we need to have a place for the kids to go ride. And so far we’ve accomplished that.”

You can access the park by turning off Highway 160 onto Dandelion Street, then right on Ironwood Avenue and follow it down to the end.

Rider Rules

■ Helmets are required for all youth participants.

■ A valid OHV sticker is mandatory.

■ Youth riders only. Quads must be 100cc or smaller.

Volunteers are needed to ensure the safety of these young riders. Flaggers and crowd control volunteers are essential. Sign up at Pahrump OHV Park or contact Brad Harris at Brad@associatedtelecom.com to lend a hand.

This event is supported by the town of Pahrump, County Public Works and the OHV Advisory Committee.

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.