2017 California Orienteering Week (COW)
2017 California Orienteering Week (COW)

O in the Oaks 2017 – Training Course

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve

Date: Mar. 22 - 24, 2017
Location: Livermore, CA
Course Setter: Matej Šebo
Type: Training; Course maps from February 2017 local event; control locations marked by streamers, but no formal racing — that is, NO beginner clinics, NO official starts — (part of COW)


Travel Advisory:

The north end of Morgan Territory Road is totally closed. You must approach the park from the south, as described below.


To give you a chance to practice in California terrain, and to warm up for the weekend National Events, there will be a course flagged in Morgan Territory Regional Preserve on Wednesday through Friday, March 22–24. This park was the venue for the 2016 U.S. Individual Championships.

The course was the Green course at the February BAOC local event, set by U.C Berkeley student Matej Å ebo. The map is available here (PDF/2.1MB). It is 8½" by 11". The scale is 1:10000 and the contour interval is 5 meters (both are shown on the map). The control descriptions are on the map.

There is a 1.5 km (actual, not straight-line, distance) walk from the parking lot to the remote start location (which, of course, is shown on the map). It will take about 15–20 minutes to reach the Start. To get to the Start, take the trail from the Finish shown on the map to control #22, then take the trail north from there, eventually meeting a dirt road. Turn left onto the road and take it to the Start.

Control locations will be marked with orange or pink streamers (assuming animals haven't disturbed them). There will not be control bags, and there will not be any formal racing.

It should be noted that there is a phi loop near the end of the course. The intention is to first visit control #15, then visit #16 and #17, then go back to #15 (now as #18), then go to #19, visit #17 again (now as #20), and then go to #21 and continue with the course.

Please read (and heed) the following:

  1. Drive slowly on Morgan Territory Road!
  2. You will see a sign at the junction of Manning Road and Morgan Territory Road in Livermore that says "Road Closed to Thru Traffic". No worries, you simply need to drive around the sign and continue slowly, making your way to the park.
  3. The drinking water fountains at the parking lot are not working.
  4. There will not be water at the Start or on the course.
  5. There is a toilet at the parking lot, and you will pass near one on the way to the Start (it will be visible 40 m to the northeast when your trail meets the dirt road; it is shown on the map as a building).
  6. There is a water spigot next to the toilet that can be used for cleaning. We do not recommend drinking that water.

Driving Directions

From the Bay Area, take I-580 East to North Livermore Ave. After a straight, tree-lined stretch, North Livermore Ave ends at Manning Road. Go left and then promptly right on Morgan Territory Road (the first real street), which will ascend into the hills and to the park. It is a narrow, winding road​—​again, please drive slowly.

For anyone east of Livermore, do the same, reaching North Livermore Ave from I-580 West.

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