About us

Early Beginnings.
Valley Trail Riders began as a group of men holding Scrambles events at Linwood Sportsmen Club in 1964. On January 25, 1966 the group approved the club by-laws and the Valley Trail Riders Motorcycle Club was born. The club name was borrowed from Valley Tool and Die where the early club meetings were held.
Milestones in our History.
Valley Trail Riders early racing history consisted mainly of Scrambles and Poker Runs, but in 1967 began hosting the Mother’s Day Enduro, an annual event that ran through 1989.
1968: The club borrowed money from the mother of one of the early members to purchase the south 80 acres at our current location on Brown Road in Bentley, Michigan.
1970: The club began its rich heritage of hosting ice races on Saginaw Bay and at various locations in Bay City, Linwood, and Pinconning.
1991: The club purchased another 80 acres adjacent to the northern border of the initial club property, giving us the 160 acres that we enjoy today.
1998: Construction began on the club’s ice racing pond and the first ice race at the Valley Trail Riders property was held in 2000.
2005: The annual Father’s Day Hare Scramble began, an event still held today.
2010: The legendary Barkbuster Enduro and the Weedwacker Family Enduro began. Not even Covid could kill these races and in 2020, the Barkbuster was Michigan’s ONLY surviving enduro.
2018: Valley Trail Riders hosted their first Sprint Enduro, and event which later became known as the infamous Nancy Boy Sprint Enduro.
2020: Valley Trail Riders returned to their Scrambles roots and hosted their first Vintage Grand Prix Motocross race.

2022: The club added a new event to our Father’s Day race weekend, the “Family Team Event”. Dad and kids make up a team and are in a class by combining their ages over a five plus mile course thru our wooded acres. It’s a recreational ride that we award with one trophy per age class. And there’s even one class for Mom and kids, too.

2023: Mother Nature didn’t come through for us this year, we were not able to have an ice race. We did pull off all of our summer events and even added an extra Hare Scramble in September, the “Little Fawn”. The club members pulled together and in two weeks got the woods cleaned up after the Sprint Enduro, then marked out a seven plus mile Scramble course.
2024 and Beyond: The club is growing as is the number of races we host. At our 160 acre facility in Bentley, Michigan (just east of Gladwin), we now feature several annual AMA District 14 off-road racing events for motorcycles and ATV’s including the tight and technical Bark Buster Enduro, the family-friendly Weed Wacker Enduro, the diabolical Nancy Boy Sprint Enduro, the grueling Father’s Day Hare Scramble, now TWO Vintage Grand Prix Motocross events and as many ice races as Old Man Winter will allow. Come join us for some of the grittiest off-road racing competition to be found in Michigan!