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Joaquin Miller Park

Course Setters' Notes

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For this BAOC 35th anniversary meeting we are visiting the lesser-used southern portion of Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland. This portion of the park offers a variety of cultural, as well as natural attractions, plus some breathtaking views over the Bay. The shorter courses have especially been set to visit some of these more scenic spots.

Courses

There are five courses:

• White and Yellow for beginners
• Orange for intermediates
• Brown and Green for more advanced orienteering

The White and Yellow courses share only a small number of controls, and can be enjoyably run back-to-back. Orange shares a few controls with the all the other courses, but also has numerous unique controls. Brown is a subset of the Green course, with the difference between those two courses simply a matter of length and climb.

The terrain is relatively steep, so all the courses are a little shorter than typical, but with a vigorous amount of climb on the more difficult courses. The statistics are as follows:

                                          Navigational   Physical  
   Course   Distance   Climb   Controls   Difficulty     Difficulty
   
   White     1.7 km     70 m      12        Easy          Easy
   Yellow    2.3 km    150 m      13        Easy          Easy
   Orange    3.5 km    250 m      12        Moderate      Moderate
   Brown     4.0 km    305 m      12        Hard          Moderate
   Green     4.5 km    350 m      16        Hard          Hard

Note that only the Green course crosses Skyline Boulevard, and it does so twice — due care should be taken.

Map

Please note that the map here has not been comprehensively revised in many years. Furthermore, the original mapping was not of the highest orienteering standards. This is not especially significant for the shorter courses, but for those venturing off-trail you need to be aware of the map's shortcomings. Vegetation has grown up in many of the open areas, and vegetation boundaries have changed fairly significantly since the last mapping. White areas may or may not be truly runnable. Lighter green areas could be difficult to traverse in some spots. Tree thinning in other areas has opened them up to easier navigation. Furthermore, the trail systems have evolved over the years, and in some parts the map has not kept pace with these changes.

Updates have been applied in areas likely to be traversed, but please be flexible in the interpretation of vegetation boundaries and other subtle features in some of the lesser visited spots. And recognize that some "informal" trails and erosional features may not be mapped. Note that poison oak can sometimes be found in the more isolated areas; take the usual precautions as required.