The 2023 US Hard Enduro (USHE) schedule has been announced with a new six-round, non-AMA Premier Championship for Pro riders to run alongside a 10-round AMA West and East Regional Championship series for all classes in events ranging from harsh deserts, slick east coast forests, big mountain ski resorts, to a tropical island.

The 2023 US Hard Enduro Series schedule looks like a strong one with 10 hard enduro races stretching across the United States, from Hawaii to Pennsylvania. The schedule announcement also shows USHE has adjusted the series format with a new Premier Championship focusing on the Pro and Pro Women classes.

Don’t stress though, the existing AMA West and East Regional Championships remains for all classes but with six out of those 10 AMA Regional rounds carrying points for the new USHE Premier Championship.

The idea being to both create separation between the two AMA Regional Championships – which still  remain AMA qualifiers for the grand national final at TKO – and give the Pro and Pro Women a separate overall Championship.

The USHE Premier Championship and AMA West Regional Championship will kick off at the King of the Motos in Johnson Valley, California on January 28-29 and will be a challenging GPS-based desert race as part of the King of the Hammers festivities.

The first new AMA West Regional event of the year will be IRC Endurofest-Hawaii on the North Shore of Oahu on March 11-12. Hawaii is not only a hard enduro paradise, but there are at least a couple hundred racers in the Hawaii Motorsports Association who don’t get the chance to race on the mainland or qualify for TKO. This event will give Hawaiians that opportunity.

Both East and West Championships come together couple weeks later at the end of March for the Grinding Stone Hard Enduro, famous for sending riders up and down the gnarly sandstone mesas in Page, Arizona. Another new round to the series follows straight after at the Snake Bite Hard Enduro in Lubbock, Texas, which has no shortage of steep hills, rocks, and gnarly terrain.

The USHE will then head east for the Battle of the Goats in North Carolina, which last ran in 2021 and was missed by many during the 2022 season. This will be the third round of the Premier Championship and first AMA East Regional round.

The second AMA East Regional will be the Fallen Timbers Hard Enduro in southeast Ohio, known for its impossibly slick mud and having the closest Pro battle of the 2022 season between Trystan Hart and Ryder LeBlond.

Three-day “mega event” and huge prize money

On Memorial Day Weekend, two Pennsylvania races partnered up for a three-day mega event, both serving as USHE Premier Championship and AMA East Regional rounds.

Tough Like RORR is widely known to only get a handful of finishers and paid out a whopping $35,000 at the 2022 race. RORR will run their race on Saturday and Sunday.

The Shotgun Hard Enduro debuted in 2022, but became a popular one with its never-ending rock gardens. The Shotgun Hard Enduro is only 45 minutes from RORR and will be held on the Monday, just two days after RORR (get training boys and girls!).

Racing both events will be incentivised and an overall weekend purse will be built up for the top Pros of the weekend.

Heading back west

The Championships will then head back West to race at the ski resorts and the Donner Hard Enduro near Truckee, California is always a spectator favourite on the granite slabs. It will return on Father’s Day weekend as an AMA West Regional round and feature a full weekend of festivities.

The final round of both the Premier Championship and AMA West Regional will take place at the Silver Kings Hard Enduro in Kellogg, Idaho on the last weekend of June. This event will feature everything a big mountain hard enduro race should, and more.

From a tropical island, through deserts to mountain resorts...

The new schedule includes some brand new hard enduro races, the return of some big events, and races that have been running for years.

The terrain will vary from harsh deserts, slick east coast forests, big mountain ski resorts, to a tropical island. With the help of a solid crew, great sponsors, and thousands of passionate enthusiasts, the USHE is excited to see the continued growth of hard enduro in the USA.

FYI the 2023 Tennessee Knockout (TKO) is no longer in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship but IS still very much on and will again be the Grand National Final in mid-August.

More information: www.ushardenduro.com

Photo Credit: Matt Musgrove + Defy Focus Photography + Andrew Nguyen + King of Hammers