Tahoe Weekend 2018
Burton Creek State Park
Date: (Sun.) Aug. 5, 2018
Location: Tahoe City, CA
Event Director: 
– 415.566.7990
Course Setter: Paul Carson
Type: B; Standard 7-course event for beginners through advanced
Course Setter's Notes – Burton Creek State Park
By Paul Carson
Join us for a little summer orienteering in this beautiful park near the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sorry to say that some of the more interesting terrain/features were posted as out of bounds by park officials, but otherwise courses have been designed to experience a diversity of terrain and navigational challenges.
Registration will be open from 9:30 to noon. The earliest start is at 10:00; the latest start at 12:30. The courses close at 2:00. See the event announcement page for details.
Courses
Here are the details of the courses:
Navigational Physical
Course Length Climb Controls Difficulty Difficulty
White 1.8 km 20 m 10 Easy Easy
Yellow 3.3 km 70 m 11 Easy Easy
Orange 4.5 km 100 m 12 Moderate Moderate
Brown 3.9 km 70 m 13 Hard Moderate
Green 5.9 km 105 m 17 Hard Hard
Red 7.5 km 100 m 18 Hard Hard
Blue 10.0 km 205 m 22 Hard Very Hard
Note that the course Length is simply the sum of the straight-line distances between controls. Your actual distance will be somewhat longer, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make). (A rough rule of thumb is to mentally replace "km" with "mi", so a "1.8 km" course might cover about 1.8 miles.)
Climb is an estimate of the cumulative "up" that would be encountered on the optimum route, with no regard for any "down" along the way. As with course length, the actual climb you encounter will depend on your route choices (and errors).
Course Comments
The Start for the all the courses is close to the assembly area.
The Finish for all the courses is near the assembly area.
The White (beginner) course is mostly well-surfaced trails, and is likely suitable for rugged strollers.
The Yellow (advanced beginner) course is mostly on trails with some off-trail options. Controls are near, but typically not on, trails.
The White and Yellow courses share some areas, but are mostly different, so if you have time and energy, enjoy trying a second course.
The Orange (intermediate) course is mostly off-trail, but uses large features for navigation and well-established trails for handrails if needed. This course is located in some of the same areas as the advanced courses, and should provide participants an experience similar to doing an advanced course (and maybe will inspire you to move up to the next level!).
The Brown, Green, Red, and Blue (advanced) courses are as technically difficult as possible in this terrain. They are almost entirely off-trail, and have some challenging control locations.
Map and Terrain
The map scale is 1:10,000 with 5 m contours. The map could use a little updating, as I noticed a few single-track trails not shown while scouting the Red and Blue courses.
The terrain is a mix of meadow, open forest, and somewhat thicker forest with occasional dense bushes and deadfall. White areas on the map are a bit denser than the map implies in some places.
The entire area is relatively flat when compared with some of the parks in the Bay Area.
Poison oak (PO) is non-existent!!!
There are areas of manzanita and other stiff vegetation (I also found a little barbed wire—did not require stitches, just lost a bit of blood). Shin guards are recommended for all competitors who will go off-trail, particularly for the advanced courses with substantially off-trail routes.
Boulders over 0.5 m high are usually mapped. In generally rocky areas, only the more prominent rock features may be shown.
Wildlife
No wildlife (other than the occasional mountain biker) was spotted while planning, though bear scat was noticed in one area. I have never encountered a bear in this area—I think they hang out around our house in Reno, as we have had one in the backyard three times this year that we know about.
Driving Directions
The approximate coordinates for the assembly area at North Tahoe High School are 39.1940,–120.1193
From Tahoe City: Take CA Route 28 northeast for ~3.7 kilometers (Hey, we’re orienteers and should know metric! OK, if I must, ~2.3 miles.), and turn left onto Old Mill Road. Head north on Old Mill Road for ~600 meters (0.4 miles) until reaching the three-way stop at Polaris Road. Turn left and proceed ~800 meters (0.5 miles) to the school on the right. Turn in at the first driveway. (If you miss Old Mill Road, just keep going on Highway 28, and look for signs at Fabian Way pointing to cross-country skiing—see below.)
From Kings Beach: Take CA Route 28 west for ~10.8 kilometers (~6.7 miles), and turn right onto Fabian Way (across from the 7-Eleven). Turn right onto Village Road (first intersection: ~130 meters, ~400 feet). Head north on Village Road for ~300 meters (0.2 miles), and turn left onto Polaris Road. Proceed ~1.1 kilometers (0.7 miles) to the school on the right. Turn in at the first driveway. (If you miss Fabian Way, just keep going on Highway 28, and look for signs for Old Mill Road—see above.)