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Interesting rock formation at Castle Rock Park

Spring Lake

Date: Sunday, March 14, 2004
Location: Santa Rosa, CA.
Event Director: - (415) 456-8118
Type: C; "Come and Try It" event: White & Yellow courses

Come on out and enjoy great early spring conditions at Spring Lake county park! Flowers will be out, and the Poison Oak won't yet, so now is the time! This year, we will be keeping the courses fully within the boundaries of the park, which both limits us and provides opportunities. This event is billed as a "Come & try it" event, and will indeed have courses for first timers and advanced beginner levels (White & Yellow courses).

A scenic view at Calero Reservoir, 1997

However, as the date of the event does fall close to St. Patrick's Day, and as the event director happens to be part Irish, there will be a wee bit more. I am planning several events and courses in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. This will include a longish course where all trails and roads will have been "stolen" from the map participants receive! This course will thus be very technical! Spring Lake abounds with hundreds of rock features including over 90 pits within the park proper, and a very intricate vegetation mix, including thickets, runnable forest, meadows, and the lake itself. This course should be a fun challenge for advanced orienteers, as well as being good training for all in compass use, pacing, and map reading.

Tom Jahn standing by a huge fallen tree at Big Basin in 1996 (Photo: Joel Thompson)

Registration will be in the usual place, at the Oak Knolls Picnic area on the southeast side of the park. Registration will run from 9AM until noon, and starts will be from 10AM until 12:30PM. Instructional clinics for beginners will be offered on a rolling basis throughout the morning, and these usually last 15-20 minutes.

If you are new to the sport of orienteering, plan on arriving at least a half hour before you plan to start a course. Most people complete their courses in one to two hours.

Driving Directions

To get to Spring Lake Park: Take U.S. Highway 101 north to Santa Rosa. Once in Santa Rosa, exit onto highway 12 going east. Follow highway 12 for 1.5 miles to its left turn at Farmer's Lane. Do not take this turn, but instead, continue straight onto Hoen Avenue. At the Hoen-Summerfield traffic light 1.5 miles later, continue straight, then take an immediate left onto Newanga Avenue. Newanga leads into Spring Lake County Park. At the ranger's kiosk, make a right and go up the hill to the Oak Knoll Picnic Area.