Our Story

Welcome to our Motocross website!  We are Eric and Annelise Turner, owners and Director of Iron Horse Country Ranch. 

Summer Camp Season 2023 marked our 16th and last year to offer our motocross summer camp program to children.  We share here the letter sent out to all of our camp families in October 2023 announcing the decision to end, our mixed feelings and our plans for the future. In sum, we have decided to refocus our efforts in providing fun and meaningful learn-to-ride experiences to families vs. children only.  Please take a moment to read our letter and check back in with us in early 2024 to see what we’re going to do next.

Dear Iron Horse Families,
We are ending our Summer Camp.
We have made the decision to end our Motocross Summer Camp after 16 great years and will not be offering a 2024 season next summer or beyond.
Please know, we did not make this decision lightly.  It’s something that we have discussed over the past several years.  We know what Iron Horse has meant for our campers and families since 2008.  It has meant the world to us to be able to provide this type of community for you.
Simply put, as with everything in life, we’ve always known there would be a time to end and wanted to do so feeling good about how we finished.  As you might imagine, running this type of camp involves tremendous effort and responsibility and we feel that after almost two decades of doing so, it’s time for us to transition into doing something else.

“Something Else” – A New Kind of Iron Horse
We’re not retiring and going away just yet. We’ve heard from parents many times over the years that they wished they could come to camp too. Well, soon you will be able to do just that. We are planning to offer smaller and family-based mini-camp versions of our summer camp sessions, meaning extended Friday-Sunday weekends at the Ranch with meals/beds provided along with lessons, bikes, gear and riding. These would be limited to a few families per weekend. Additional emails to come with more detailed information once we have finished planning. 
We feel a deep sense of gratitude and affection for all of you.  We have many, many good camp memories to hold dear.  We hope we can see some of you in the future and for those we don’t, we wish the best for you and yours.
Please don’t hesitate to email or call with questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Mr. & Mrs. Turner
Eric: 512-917-5733
Annelise: 512-297-6813

 

Our life experiences, passions and backgrounds led us to the concept of this camp and to its opening in 2008.   Eric is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Instructor (MSF) and Annelise holds a Masters Degree in Social Work, Child & Family Specialty.  We are proud parents of two now grown daughters who were our original “Junior Counselors”.    To this day, they both talk about how participating in summer camp life at Iron Horse has helped them in their adult lives with self-confidence, social skills and a strong work ethic.  

What We Did as a Motocross Summer Camp

At Iron Horse Country Ranch Motocross Summer Camp we provided a good, old-fashioned, real summer camp experience for kids. Our campers  learned how to ride off-road motorcycles – known more commonly as “dirt bikes” –  in part as a way to teach them an exciting skill they will keep for life, but mostly as a way to get them into the great outdoors doing something active and fun with other kids.

The way we did this was through our Motocross Summer Camp program for kids ages 8-13 years.  We grew from being a day camp only in 2008 into transitioning as an overnight (sleep away) camp.  Our camp sessions were one week long each, Monday through Friday.  Boys and girls had separate sleeping quarters. Camp size was small – less than 30 kids each week.  We maintained a high level of supervision throughout all weeks thereby creating  a structured and safe way to learn how to ride and have fun. 

We hired adult coaches/counselors over the age of 21 to help lead instruction. Our junior coaching staff, ages 16-18, worked as our life-guards and assisted our lead adult coaches throughout the day.  Together, we formed a team that covered all the bases in providing a fun and life-affirming experience for our campers.

How We Will Continue…

We plan on taking the best of our kids’ program and growing it into a true family-style camp experience for parents, grandparents and their children.

We will still  supply all the motorcycles and the gear, using only Honda dirt bikes because they last and last.  Instructors will be professionally trained and all instruction will be done in small, intimate groups where participants can easily make friends.

Our facility is a riding Resort complete with 100 acres of tracks, trails, pool, Cafe, Rec Center,  Fire Pit, games such as Corn Hole, Air Hockey and Ping Pong,  animal life and, of course, riding…lots and lots of riding.   All of that riding will be done under supervision of our trained coaches.  We teach in a professional, structured way that ensures success for every adult and child.  Sleeping arrangements are made with the family unit in mind – each family will have their own air-conditioned/heated bunk room complete with bunks for the kids and larger bed for parents.  Meals to include dinner on Friday night, all 3 meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday morning before the last ride of the weekend.

Our extended weekend mini-camps are organized to build on campers’ skills each day  so that by the end of the weekend they are able to ride various difficulty levels, go over jumps, and be thoroughly introduced into the world of dirt bikes as a family – parents, you can also end the weekend knowing all about motocross bike sizes, the best fit for your needs and how to buy a bike for you or your child once you get back home.

Where We Are

Our physical location is 9100 East FM 243, Bertram, Texas 78605.  We are on a real ranch setting with 100 acres of beautifully rolling, wooded terrain nestled in the iconic Texas Hill Country.  The Ranch includes cows, chickens, a horse named Bella,  our ranch dog Bandit and two barn cats named Indie and Harley (of course!), fully vaccinated.  We are 30 minutes from North Austin, 25 minutes from Georgetown, and 20 minutes or less from Cedar Park, Leander, Liberty Hill and Burnet, Texas.  For GPS:  “9100 E. FM 243, Bertram, Texas  78605”.  (Note: PLEASE DO NOT just enter our name as it takes people to an incorrect location near Liberty Hill.

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The Motorcycle Summer Camp for Kids

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