As with a lot of things in our world today, the news came on social media:

After 15 wonderful years of moto heaven the Chamberlin family has asked Zaca to close down due to pressure from the county of Santa Barbara. I would like to thank the Chamberlin family for allowing us to enjoy this amazing place for as long as they did. I would especially like to thank Fred Chamberlin for sharing his beautiful ranch with us and having the vision to make it happen. He truly understood how important the track was for families and kids in the community. Families were able to spend time together and riding motocross gave the kids a drug-free outlet. I have truly enjoyed spending time with all of you in our own little piece of paradise. See you around. Ed

Ed Guajardo was the driving force behind Zaca Station, a private motocross track located in Los Olivos, California, in the Santa Ynez Valley—one of the more beautiful parts of the Golden State. It’s also a place where doing anything that might harm the earth really gets the environmentalists’ blood pumping. That’s why Zaca Station had exactly one neighboring track, Castillo Ranch, which is also privately owned (by Jim Castillo, the founder of Innovation Sports and CTi knee braces).

Guajardo—who prefers just being called Ed—got into the motocross scene back in the mid-seventies at the synonymous-with-the-era Indian Dunes, another epic California riding area that also hosted races. Alas, the 600-acre facility, owned by the Newhall Land and Farming Company, closed its gates to dirt bike riders in 1985 for unexplained reasons, though many figured it had to with liability issues and lawsuits over injuries.