Course Setters’ Notes for Presidio of San Francisco Sprint Event ↑
By Caroline Sandbo (COC) and Gavin Wyatt-Mair (BAOC)
The complete Course Setters’ Notes are in this PDF file (790KB). Be sure to read them.
The following portion of those Course Setters’ Notes is very important, so it is repeated here.
SAFETY — RISK OF DISQUALIFICATION! ↑
All the courses are required to cross a busy road at one of two mandatory crossing points (see a map example in the Course Setters’ Notes). Runners may choose which crossing to use based on their route choice. These crossings will be marked in the terrain, but not guarded, so runners may need to wait for traffic to pass. To eliminate any time spent waiting, there is a control on each side of each crossing (numbers 201 and 202) that runners must punch before and after crossing. The controls are not mapped. For fairness, the time elapsed between these two controls will be set to a minimum of 60 seconds for all runners. This should be ample time to cross the road; if you take longer than 60 seconds, the extra time will be added to your time. Failure to punch both 201 and 202 will result in disqualification.
Please be careful of traffic throughout your course. There are likely to be many bikes and cars on a busy Friday afternoon.
Course Setters’ Notes for Calero Middle and Classic Events ↑
By John Richardson (BAOC) and Misha Kreslavsky (BAOC)
Overview ↑
Calero County Park covers a large expanse of hilly terrain with a mix of grassland and deciduous forest typical of the local area. The park is scenic and highly runnable at this time of year, and the map has recently undergone major updates, making this the perfect venue for a weekend of competitive orienteering.
The Assembly Area for both days is the trailhead parking lot at the McKean entrance (coordinates 37.1749,-121.7611), but there will be separate Start and Finish locations each day (see below for more details).
There will be one water stop on the Brown-X, Green, Red, and Blue courses for the Classic event. Please bring any additional refreshments that you will need.
There are orange/pink streamers and flagging in forested areas of the park that have nothing to do with the courses, even though they might be near the control sites. Please ignore them. There will, however, be flagging to guide you to the Start.
Park Conditions & Hazards ↑
The park recently underwent a controlled burn in some areas (used primarily by the Middle courses). Much of the affected area is now covered by fresh grass (and less undergrowth!), but there remain some parts with blackened ground/ash that might be soft or loose underfoot. The map has been updated in the affected areas, but there are a number of recently fallen dead trees, some of which are very large, that are not mapped.
In general, the park is rather steep, so cleated running shoes or hiking boots are highly recommended. It can be difficult to travel in any direction across the steepest slopes. Beware of rocky patches that can also be wet and slippery. Depending on the weather, roads might be muddy and flat areas might be wet.
There is a fair amount of poison oak, mostly bushes (which are easy to avoid) or on the ground in forested areas. Long pants and/or gaiters are recommended for the advanced courses, which will enter these areas. The grass is generally not too high, but it might be wet if there is rain. Be sure to check for ticks, which can carry Lyme disease, and are abundant in the park.
The park is currently closed to horses and mountain bikes, but make sure to stay aware and give way as needed. There is plenty of wildlife in the park, mainly birds and deer. You will likely not encounter any rattlesnakes, coyotes, mountain lions, etc., but be aware they can be found in this park.
Map ↑
The park was newly mapped by Misha Kreslavsky in 2023–2024 with some updates after the controlled burn in 2025. A part of the new map was used for the 2024 BAOC event. The map is ISOM-2017 drafted for 1:10,000 scale, printed at 1:10,000 for the Green, Red, and Blue Classic (Sunday) courses, and at 1:7,500 for all other Classic courses and all Middle (Saturday) courses. The contour interval is 5 m. The map paper is not waterproof, but plastic map cases will be provided as needed.
Large and small green circles denote larger and small trees, green dots (not an ISOM 2017 symbol) denote bushes, green crosses denote standing or partly standing dead trees. Fallen trees are not shown; a few areas of overlapping fallen trees are shown as intermediate green patches. Light green is runnable (just a little slower than white forest), intermediate green is slow, solid green is uncrossable.
Depending on the weather, small watercourses (thin blue lines) might be dry and look like small gullies. Gullies shown with brown bold lines are uncrossable.
Middle Course Notes ↑
There will be eight Middle courses: White, Yellow, Orange, Brown-Y, Brown-X, Green, Red, and Blue.
The White course follows the trail network. Yellow controls are mostly off-trail, but can be reached easily from trails. Orange and the advanced courses have been designed to test competitors’ technical navigation skills, and offer some route choice on the longer legs. There are many controls in a limited area, so be sure to check that the control numbers match your course.
Course Length Climb Controls
White 1.6 km 20 m (1.3%) 9
Yellow 1.9 km 60 m (3.2%) 9
Orange 2.3 km 90 m (3.9%) 10
Brown-Y 1.9 km 40 m (2.1%) 8
Brown-X 2.2 km 65 m (3.0%) 9
Green 3.4 km 110 m (3.2%) 13
Red 3.8 km 145 m (3.8%) 14
Blue 4.7 km 195 m (4.1%) 19
Winning times are expected to be in the range of 30–40 min for M/F–21+ and 25–35 min for other age classes. All the maps will be printed at 1:7,500 scale (including Elite classes) for optimal readability, and have 5 m contours.
The Start is a little over 1 km from the Assembly Area. The walk includes an off-trail section and approximately 50 m of climb. You must stay on the marked route and follow any additional instructions from the event organizers. In particular, you must not enter the abandoned ranch that the flagged route passes. Make sure to allow around 20 minutes for the walk to ensure you don’t miss your assigned start time!
Note: NRE participants must be at the Start 4 minutes before their assigned start time.
There will be a clothing drop-off near the Start. You should plan to pick up your clothing after the Finish, before continuing back to the Assembly Area.
Due to park restrictions, no water will be provided on the courses. You may drop off water bottles at the clothing drop-off near the Start for pickup later on your way back to the Assembly Area.
From the Finish, there is roughly a 1 km (flat) walk to the Assembly Area.
Course setter John Richardson thanks Jim Hall and Misha Kreslavsky for reviewing the courses. Misha also vetted the control locations and updated the map to account for recent changes.
Classic Course Notes ↑
There will be eight Classic courses: White, Yellow, Orange, Brown-Y, Brown-X, Green, Red, and Blue.
The White course follows trails. On the Yellow course, routes mostly follow trails, but the controls are off-trail — they might or might not be seen from the trail. The advanced courses are difficult physically (because of steep slopes) and (in places) technically. The longer courses offer route choices.
Course Length Climb Controls
White 2.7 km 25 m (0.9%) 8
Yellow 2.9 km 90 m (3.1%) 10
Orange 3.5 km 140 m (4.0%) 10
Brown-Y 2.0 km 105 m (5.3%) 7
Brown-X 3.0 km 160 m (5.3%) 8
Green 5.3 km 245 m (4.6%) 13
Red 6.0 km 305 m (5.1%) 15
Blue 8.2 km 420 m (5.1%) 22
Maps will be printed at 1:7,500 scale for the White, Yellow, Orange, Brown-Y, and Brown-X courses, and at 1:10,000 for the Green, Red, and Blue courses.
The Start is 1.3 km from the Assembly Area, with 110 m climb. Please leave enough time for this relatively steep climb. You must follow the flagged, official trail, and not take shortcuts (it is a strict park requirement — shortcutting would undermine our ability to use this park for orienteering). Make sure to allow around 25–30 minutes to ensure you don’t miss your start time!
Note: NRE participants must be at the Start 4 minutes before their assigned start time.
There will be a clothing drop-box near the Start. The clothing will be transferred down to the Assembly Area after the last start. Empty water bottles may also be left in the clothing drop-box.
There is one water stop on the Brown-X, Green, Red, and Blue courses.
Some controls from different courses are close to each other, so make sure to check the numbers.
From the Finish, there is a 300 m walk to Assembly Area.
Course setter Misha Kreslavsky thanks Jim Hall and John Richardson for reviewing the courses. John also vetted the control locations.