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Camp Tamarancho

Date: (Sun.) Aug. 29, 2010
Location: Fairfax, CA
Event Director: - 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Greg Ehrensing
Type: B; Regular 7-course event, with beginner through advanced courses

Related Event Information

Course Setter's Notes Last Year's Event

Please note that fees and time limits apply, unless otherwise mentioned below. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


Please plan to come out to Tamarancho on August 29th, for some great orienteering. Tamarancho is a Boy Scout camp, located due west of the town of Fairfax in Marin County. The terrain varies from gently rolling and flat in the main part of the camp, to quite steep and hilly on the peripheries. Most of the wooded are is typical Oak, Bay, and Madrone forest, with some extensive areas of Redwood trees.

This is a standard B event. There will be the full line of seven courses offered, from a beginner's course that is short and flat, to the most extreme advanced course, which is neither. The details of the courses are given below.

Registration will be on Staff Hill (same as in the past) and will open at 9 AM. Starts for all courses will be available from 10 AM until 12:30 PM. All courses will close at 2 PM, by which time everyone must check in at the Finish (even if they haven't completed their course). Informal instructional clinics will be offered on a continuous basis near registration, between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM.

Some nice amenities that we don't often get at our events include a bathroom with flush toilets (on Staff Hill), and numerous drinking fountains scattered throughout the camp (indicated on the map by a blue ×). There are also showers, but I am not sure at this time if we will have access to them.

One important point is that the Scouts require all cars coming to Tamarancho to park "back in" to their parking spots. This is to facilitate a quick exit in the case of an emergency (wildfire, etc.). Please remember this! The Scouts are quite strict about this, and make it a requirement on our permit!

Courses

Here are the course stats: 

   Course    Length    Climb   Controls

   White     1.5 km     50 m      11
   Yellow    2.5 km     90 m      11
   Orange    3.4 km    160 m      11
   Brown     3.0 km     90 m      13
   Green     3.6 km    110 m      12
   Red       4.7 km    205 m      12
   Blue      6.5 km    320 m      15

Be sure to read the Course Setter's Notes for more information.

Driving Directions

From Highway 101 in Marin, take Sir Francis Drake Blvd until you reach downtown Fairfax. Continue westbound on Sir Francis Drake past downtown for another quarter mile, and look for the green highway sign that says "Camp Tamarancho". Turn left at this sign onto Olema Road, and continue to follow the subsequent green campg signs until you reach Iron Springs Road. Head up Iron Springs Road for two miles until it ends at the camp entrance.

Note: You must park facing outward (i.e., back into your space).

Warning: Iron Springs Rd is a narrow, winding, partially-paved road with lots of small to moderately sized potholes. A car with normal clearance can make it if driven carefully. Low-riders and sports cars are not advised. Please allow at least 15 minutes for these last two miles.

There's a map here that shows the location of the event.