COW Stage 7 at Deer Creek Hills Preserve 2018

Day 9 of California Orienteering Week (COW) 2018

Mar 25, 2018 (Sun)

BAOC

Deer Creek Hills Preserve Rancho Murietta, CA

Director: Mats Jansson (GCO) (916.220.0224)
Course Setters: Heidi Cusworth (NAV-X) , Bill Cusworth (NAV-X)

Type A: National Ranking Event (NRE). Offers courses in all the OUSA competitive classes (see section A.39) and are counted in the national rankings. Note, however, that these events also have courses for recreational orienteers and do welcome beginners, and sometimes an event will consist of a combination of NRE and non-NRE events.

Stage 7 of California Orienteering Week (COW)

Related events:

Schedule ↑

Registration open: 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Beginner clinics: 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Start window: 10:00 AM to noon
Courses close: 3:00 PM
Junior Team Sandwiches: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Event dinner: 5:15–7:30 PM at BJs Brewery & Restaurant, 2730 East Bidwell St, Folsom, CA
(preregistration required; possibly sold out; see the main event page for details)

Junior Team Fundraiser ↑

If you are participating at this event, your checklist just got shorter. Grab lunch after your run by visiting the National Junior Program (NJP) Junior Team table in the Assembly Area, where you will be able to make your own sandwich whether you are a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore. This is a fundraiser for the team. Find out more and "reserve" your $5 sandwich(es) here.

Reserve your sandwich by Wednesday, March 21. You may be able to get one even if you don't reserve—the form is mainly to help the Junior Team know how much food stuff to buy. See you soon, and thank you for supporting the Junior Team!

Mobile Phone Coverage ↑

There is pretty good cell phone coverage throughout the preserve.

Other Park Users ↑

We do not have exclusive access to the preserve. On Saturday, March 24, the Sacramento Valley Conservancy (SVC) is hosting "self guided hikes", and one of the other SVC partners, REI, will be having ~10 people out for an outdoor clinic. Please be respectful to these other users if you encounter them on your course.

Special Liability Forms ↑

We are required to collect a separate Release of Liability from all participants. These forms will be available at the Start location (less than 200 yards from the Assembly Area).

Note: Minors need to get a parent/guardian signature, so we will have forms available at the recreational registration desk (in the Assembly Area) so that parents/guardians don't need to join their minor to the Start location. Please make sure your minor takes their signed form with them to the Start.

Notes for Competitive Entries ↑

  • Start times are pre-assigned (except for event-day registrations). They are available here.
  • Times over 3 hours will be recorded as overtime (OVT) per OUSA rules.
  • You must return to the Finish by 3:00 PM, and then go to the download tent, even if you have not finished your course.

Notes for Recreational Entries ↑

  • At registration, all juniors must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian (the registration form is available here (PDF/100KB)).
  • You can register and start on courses anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" when registration opens (but you can if you want, but please don't show up earlier and expect to be served).
  • Beginners' clinics are short, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.
  • You must return to the Finish by 3:00 PM, and then go to the download tent, even if you have not finished your course. If there are unaccounted people after 3:00 PM, we must initiate a search for them.

Courses ↑

Here are the final course details:

                                                Water
    Course    Length       Climb     Controls   Stops
    White     2.7 km     45 m  1.7%     12        1  
    Yellow    3.0 km     65 m  2.2%     13        1
    Orange    4.2 km     90 m  2.1%     16        1
    Brown     3.6 km     90 m  2.5%     16        1
    Green     4.8 km    145 m  3.0%     20        1
    Red       5.3 km    145 m  2.7%     20        2
    Blue      5.8 km    165 m  2.8%     22        2

Recreational (non-competitive) entries will be allowed on the beginner-level (White and Yellow) and intermediate-level (Orange) courses.

Beginners should note that the course Length is simply the sum of the straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make). (A rough rule of thumb is to mentally replace "km" with "mi", so a "2.7 km" course might cover about 2.7 miles.)

Climb is an estimate of the cumulative "up" that would be encountered on the optimum route, with no regard for any "down" along the way. As with course length, the actual climb you encounter will depend on your route choices (and errors).

Course Comments ↑

The courses are set to the IOF standard for Middle courses, which emphasizes technical challenge and has a number of short- to medium-length legs with changes of direction, but not much route choice. There is almost no overlap in terrain with Saturday's Long courses, except on White.

Controls have been placed very close together in some areas, so as usual, check your codes!

There are two mandatory gate crossings on the Orange, Green, Red, and Blue courses.

See the Course Setters' Notes below for additional comments.

Start Procedure ↑

The same start procedure will be used at every Stage of the COW event. It is described here

For both days at Deer Creek Hills, you are in the Start Triangle when you are at the Start Line.

Assigned start times for competitive entries are available here.

Driving Directions ↑

(These directions apply to both the Saturday and Sunday events. They are duplicated on both event webpages.)

From Sacramento: Take Highway 50 to the Bradshaw Exit, turn right (south) onto Bradshaw, turn left (east) onto Jackson Road (Highway 16), continue east, past the Dillard Road light, and turn left on Latrobe Road. Follow this past Scott Road to a severe right turn onto Stone House Road. Do not make this turn, but rather travel straight onto a dirt road, the continuation of Latrobe Road. Travel approximately one mile to the Eagle Camp Corral. This part of Latrobe is rocky and rutted. See more information below under Parking.

Note: The following directions were changed on March 22nd because Scott Road has been closed. This map shows the new route from the event hotel.

From Folsom: Take Highway 50 to the Prairie City Road exit. Turn south onto Prairie City Road. Prairie City Road will dead-end into White Rock Road. Turn right (west) onto White Rock Road, and follow this road until it turns into Grant Line Road. Continue on Grant Line Road for several miles to Jackson Road (Highway 16). Turn left (east) and continue east on Jackson Road, past the Dillard Road light, and turn left onto Latrobe Road. Follow this past Scott Road to a severe right turn onto Stone House Road. Do not make this turn, but rather travel straight onto a dirt road, the continuation of Latrobe Road. Travel approximately one mile to the Eagle Camp Corral. This part of Latrobe is rocky and rutted. See more information below under Parking.

Parking ↑

This section describes getting to the Assembly Area (there is a map on this GCO webpage).

Note: Due to uncertainty about Crevis Creek passability allow extra time to get here!

If people carpool, we might be able to fit most of the cars right near the Assembly Area (the big "P" on the map). But more than likely, late entrants or possibly cars with low clearance (read more below) will need to park along Latrobe Road where it is wide enough to still support traffic (use your judgment if a parking attendant is not available).

For people parking along Latrobe Road, the walk to the Assembly Area will be between 0.5 and 1.0 mile. Therefore, we will have a van shuttle taking people who need it to the Assembly Area from along the road in the morning, and the reverse in the afternoon. Some of the specifics depend on the water level in Crevis Creek, which runs across (not under!) Latrobe Road, and it changes daily during wet weather. Here are the different scenarios, and event staff will be in place to direct people as needed:

If Crevis Creek is passable by all cars: In this scenario, cross Crevis Creek on the left/NW side of the road where it is the shallowest, and proceed to the Assembly Area parking. When the Assembly Area parking is full, staff will ask people arriving to park along the road, and either walk or catch the van to the Assembly Area. If Crevis Creek is passable only by high-clearance vehicles: In this scenario, if you have a high-clearance vehicle, cross Crevis Creek on the left/NW side of the road where it is the shallowest, and proceed to the Assembly Area parking. If you don't have a high-clearance vehicle, or when the Assembly Area parking is full, staff will ask people arriving to park along the road, and either walk or catch the van to the Assembly Area. If Crevis Creek is not passable by any vehicles (very unlikely): In this scenario, staff will ask people arriving to park along the road, and either walk or catch the van to the Assembly Area.

Updated: Jun 13, 2026, 4:35 PM PDT • Edit