A good motocross track starts with the land and the rules, not the jumps. Check what your county allows, use the slopes you already have, lay out a course that flows and lets riders pass, and give water somewhere to go. Then size every jump from the speed riders will carry. Every number on this page names its source.

Last checked November 4, 2026, against AMA's 2026 Racing Rulebook, FIM's 2025 circuit standards, Motorcycling New Zealand's track requirements and the soil and road-building guides named below.

Start with the land and the rules

  • Land. About an acre fits a small track, and a great one needs 3 to 5 acres at minimum (Risk Racing).
  • Rules come first. Zoning, permits and noise limits are local. Setbacks can be large: Snohomish County, Washington, for example, keeps a motocross track's activity areas at least 500 feet from the property line of any existing home or school, and asks for a noise study with the application. Talk to your county planning office before any earthwork.
  • Use the ground you have. AMA's rulebook asks for a course laid out over natural terrain where possible. Real slopes make a better track than dirt trucked in to fake a hill.

Lay out the course

The rule makers agree on the shape of a good course, even at very different scales:

  • Keep speeds sane. AMA says to avoid high-speed sections. FIM designs world-championship courses to hold the average race speed to 65 km/h (about 40 mph) at most.
  • Size. AMA: generally half a mile to one and a half miles, at least 20 feet wide. Risk Racing: at least 400 feet long for a small track. FIM world championships: 1.5 to 2 kilometres, at least 6 metres wide.
  • A clean start. Face the start uphill where you can, with no humps, jumps or hidden bumps (AMA). No jumps on the start straight (FIM).
  • Flow and passing. Few stop-and-go turns, room to pass safely, and jumps of varied difficulty so riders of every level can ride it. No square-edged banks or sudden drop-offs within 1.5 metres of the track edge, so a rider who runs wide can rejoin (Motorcycling New Zealand).

The features, side on

Every common jump and feature, what it asks of a rider, and what to get right when you build it. Our jump guide goes further.

Jumps and track features

8 shapes, side on

Pick one to see what it asks of a rider and what to get right when you build it.

Side on, riders going left to right. Not to scale.

Tabletop

A takeoff, a flat top, and a landing that slopes down the far side.

What it asks of a rider

The jump to learn on. A rider who comes up short lands on the flat top instead of dropping into a gap. The flat does nothing to soften that landing, though, so the aim is always the downslope.

Building it

  • Make the top wide enough to land on, and the landing slope long and even.
  • Keep the landing and the run-out clear of anything a rider could hit.

Every jump

  • Size it from the speed riders arrive with. Range grows with the square of speed, so twice the speed carries a rider about four times as far.
  • Shape the takeoff as a smooth curve up to the lip, never a straight ramp with a sharp edge.
  • Have a competent rider try it and make the finishing touches, as FIM's standard asks.
  • Keep jumps off the start straight. AMA and FIM both say so.

No published standard gives jump sizes: AMA and FIM leave them to the builder. To size one from speed on your own land, use MotoTerra's jump guide.

Sources: FIM Standards for Motocross circuits, 2025; AMA 2026 Racing Rulebook; MotoTerra's motocross jump design guide.

Soil and water

  • The dirt. A sandy clay loam: enough clay to hold a jump face, enough sand to drain. USDA defines it as 20 to 35 percent clay and 45 to 80 percent sand.
  • Compaction. Build in thin lifts, normally 4 to 8 inches compacted (4 to 6 for clay-rich soil), within about 2 percent of the soil's best moisture (US Army FM 5-410).
  • Drainage. FIM requires adequate drainage on every circuit. Road builders crown a dirt surface at about 4 percent and never more than 6 (FHWA gravel roads guide), and break long slopes with cross-drains, closer together as the slope steepens (USDA Forest Service). Those are road guides, but water behaves the same on a track.

Safety around the track

  • Keep the crowd back. FIM's world standard keeps at least 1 metre between the course and the spectator fence; give more wherever a bike could leave the track at speed.
  • Medical. AMA requires an ambulance and licensed EMTs or paramedics at its sanctioned events, practices included.
  • Know your state's law. Texas, Arkansas and Iowa have passed inherent-risk laws for motocross; the Motocross Track Association (MXTA) tracks every state.

Running it

Questions track builders ask

How much land do you need for a motocross track?

About an acre fits a small track, and a great one needs 3 to 5 acres at minimum (Risk Racing). The noise buffer to the nearest home can need more land than the track itself, so check your county's rules first.

How long and wide should a motocross track be?

AMA's rulebook says a motocross course should generally be half a mile to one and a half miles long, at least 20 feet wide. Risk Racing puts the minimum for a small track at 400 feet long. FIM's world-championship standard is 1.5 to 2 kilometres long and at least 6 metres wide.

Do I need a permit to build a motocross track?

Often, yes. Rules are local, and setbacks can be large: Snohomish County, Washington, for example, keeps a motocross track's activity areas at least 500 feet from the property line of any existing home or school, and requires a noise study. Ask your county planning office before any earthwork.

What is the best soil for a motocross track?

A sandy clay loam: enough clay to hold a jump face, enough sand to drain. USDA defines it as 20 to 35 percent clay and 45 to 80 percent sand. Compact it in thin lifts, normally 4 to 8 inches, within about 2 percent of its best moisture (US Army FM 5-410).

How do I keep a track from washing out?

Give water somewhere to go. Road builders crown a dirt surface at about 4 percent and never more than 6 (FHWA gravel roads guide), and break long slopes with cross-drains, closer together as the slope steepens. FIM requires adequate drainage on every circuit.

Where should the start go?

AMA's rulebook says the start should face uphill where possible and be free of humps, jumps, gullies and hard-to-see bumps. FIM allows no jumps on the start straight.

Sources and how we checked

Course rules are from AMA's 2026 Racing Rulebook (motocross courses, page 9; ambulance, Appendix 5.4), FIM's 2025 Standards for Motocross circuits (sections 4.1 and 4.2) and Motorcycling New Zealand's Track Requirements (a draft for consultation). Land and minimum size are from Risk Racing; the setback example is Snohomish County Code 30.28.105. Soil is from USDA's texture classes and US Army FM 5-410; drainage from the FHWA gravel roads guide and the USDA Forest Service. No governing body publishes jump sizes, so this page gives none. Checked November 4, 2026.

Lay it out on your own land

MotoTerra reads your real elevation, soil, flood and wetland data, lays out a track on your parcel and sizes its jumps, free. Its build guide takes it from here.