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Lake Herman Recreation Area

Date: (Sun.) Apr. 27, 2025
Location: Benicia, CA
Event Director: - 415.456.8118
Course Setter: Gavin Wyatt-Mair
Type: C; Event for beginners through advanced with White through Blue courses, including a "Silver" (shortest advanced) course; non-members and beginners are welcome; free, brief, beginner instruction will be available

Related Event Information

Event Results Course Setter’s Notes Attackpoint Event Page (https://attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_58964) Last Year’s Event

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


April 25th Update

Course Setter Gavin Wyatt-Mair reported to me today that the grass is growing like crazy at Lake Herman, and he recommends that all participants wear long pants and/or gaiters to protect their lower legs! Some of the grassy areas have small stickers, which I know from experience can be very irritating on bare skin. While the grass is getting high in places, it is still green and not nearly the irritant we sometimes experience on our grassy maps in the fall.
A description of where we will be in the park is below.
Scott Aster, Event Director


Lake Herman Recreation Area is in the grassy hills above the Carquinez Strait. This will be BAOC's fifth event at this venue. With its fairly open terrain and modest hills by Bay Area standards, Lake Herman is a lot less intimidating than many of our locations. So, if you have been thinking of moving up to a more advanced level, or if you have been trying to get your kids or neighbors or co-workers to try our sport, this is a great place to do that.

Registration for the event will be in Benicia Community Park. (Driving directions are below.)

Veteran course setter Gavin Wyatt-Mair is designing some fun, challenging courses, taking advantage of the terrain, and no doubt throwing in a wrinkle or two to ensure there will be a fun mix for both beginners and advance orienteers. The course details are below.

We also invite (i.e., urge) you to volunteer! Choose from setup, registration, beginner clinics, starts, or control pickup. Most of these tasks require little or no experience (and training is provided). More information is below. The Event Director will look forward to hearing from many of you. 😉

What is Orienteering?

An adventure: Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! Teams of 1 to 5 find checkpoints in parks and wilderness areas using specially-produced maps. All are welcome at our events: runners, joggers, hikers, and walkers; beginners and experienced; club membership is not required.

Schedule

The following standard BAOC event schedule will be followed:

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration is open
  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginner instruction is available (free)
 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open for all the courses
                   2:00 PM: Everyone must have returned to the Finish
Note: Participants under age 18 who register at the event must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian (the registration form is available here [12KB PDF]).

Note that you can register and start on the courses anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00. (You can if you want, but please don’t show up earlier and expect to be served.)

Beginner instruction is 15–20 minute, repeating sessions ("clinics") that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.

Note: Beginners are given their White or Yellow course maps at registration. You should get your map before joining a beginner clinic.

Everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and then promptly go to the download tent, even if they have not completed their course. Please do not leave without checking in! If there are unaccounted people after 2:00, we must initiate a search for them.

Costs & Registration

The following fees apply for this event:

  $3 for each junior on a Beginner (White or Yellow) course
  $8 for each adult on a Beginner course
  $5 for each junior on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (Brown through Blue) course  
$15 for each adult member on the Intermediate or an Advanced course
$20 for each adult non-member on the Intermediate or an Advanced course
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don’t own one; each group will need one to complete their course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  
Notes:
  • Juniors are age 8 through 20 (under age 8 is free).
  • At the event, we can accept payment by cash, check, or credit/debit card (but no electronic payments — e.g., PayPal, Venmo).
  • There is no charge for a second course (but you must end up paying for the more expensive course — e.g., the Orange course after the Beginner course).
  • Members of other orienteering clubs can pay the "member" fee. (We hope your club would do the same for our members. 🙂)

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/12KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.)

Optional Online Registration

Online registration has closed, but you can still register at the event.

Notes:
  • Online registration is not required​—​you can register at the event.
  • You can see who is registered here (https://eventreg.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/reglist/home/lakeherman2025) (but keep in mind that others will register at the event).

What to Bring

You might want to consider the (remote?) possibility of rain ... and bring warm clothes for after you complete your course(s). Actually, you might want to bring warm clothes to wear while you complete your course(s), since the temperature might be chilly because of wind.

For the Beginner courses (White and Yellow), comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For the Intermediate (Orange) and Advanced (Brown through Blue) courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident E-punch fingerstick. If you don't have your own, you can rent one at registration for $5. (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Location in the Park

The assembly area is in Benicia Community Park, which is adjacent to Lake Herman Recreation Area. We have reserved a portion of the picnic area.

Please be aware that we will have minimal signage out as you approach the park.

We will be set up at a different location in the park than last year. Last year we were set up on the far eastern side of the main area. This year we will be located closer to the parking lots, just west of the middle of the main area — between the eastern and western lots, down towards the ball fields from the parking lot.

Venue Facilities

The park offers ample free parking, restrooms, picnic tables and barbecues, and a children's playground. Feel free to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after you finish your course.

Dogs are not allowed in Benicia Community Park, other than in the enclosed dog area.

Terrain and Courses

The park consists of about 2.3 sq km of rolling hills sloping down to Lake Herman, a small reservoir that is the source of drinking water for the city of Benicia. The base map, produced by Bob Cooley in 2012, was a high-resolution aerial photograph overlaid on 2.5-meter LIDAR contours. The map was then drawn in OCAD by Benicia teenager Emily Radtke as a Girl Scout Silver Award project. There are some wooded areas on the outskirts of the park and in streambeds, but over most of the area, mapped vegetation consists of bushes and small trees.

Because of the relatively open terrain and gentle climb in most of the park, this is a good opportunity for anyone considering moving up a level to do so.

Courses

A full set of standard, point-to-point courses for beginners through elite orienteers will be available. Here are the course details: 

                                                Technical   Physical
    Course    Length    Climb  Controls  Loops  Difficulty  Difficulty
    White     2.2 km     40 m     13      n/a   Easy        Easy  
    Yellow    2.4 km     65 m     12      n/a   Easy        Easy
    Orange    4.0 km    155 m     17      n/a   Moderate    Moderate  
    Silver    3.1 km     60 m     18       2    Advanced    Moderate  
    Brown     3.9 km    135 m     21       2    Advanced    Moderate
    Green     5.0 km    145 m     27       3    Advanced    Hardish
    Red       6.2 km    230 m     28       3    Advanced    Hard
    Blue      7.3 km    245 m     34       4    Advanced    Harder

Beginners should be aware that the lengths shown are the cumulative straight-line distances between controls. The climb numbers represent the amount of ascending that would be done on the "optimum route" (i.e., in the Course Setter's opinion), without regard for any descending. Because you won't travel in straight lines, and might not follow the optimum routes, your actual distance and climb will be somewhat more than what is shown above, and will depend on your route choices (and any errors you make).
For extra, super fun, the Silver, Brown, Green, and Red courses are all subsets of the Blue course. This was achieved using a Loop concept, sometimes known as a "Butterfly", in which the courses return multiple times to a central, “spectator” control. Read the Course Setter's Notes for more information.
If you plan to do the Blue course, note that it has 33 controls. Thus, you must use an E-punch with enough capacity. E-punch serial numbers with fewer than seven digits, or seven digits with "2" as the first digit, will not have enough capacity. You can rent a punch with enough capacity if necessary.

The Start, Finish, and assembly area are all close together, in and around the area with the picnic tables.

Water will be provided only at the common, spectator control on the advanced courses (the assembly area will have water). Apart from that, there is no water on the courses — please carry your own if you think you want some!

All the maps are printed at 1:5000 with 2.5-meter contours.

The Course Setter's Notes are here​—​be sure to read them.

Hazards

Poison oak on the courses is minimal and easily avoided. There are ticks.

See the comments above about water on the courses.

There are baseball/soccer/volleyball fields on the courses. Please do not cut through ongoing games.

We Need Volunteers!!!

As always, we need volunteers for this event. Specifically, it will be very helpful if you volunteer to help with E-punch, starts, beginner clinics, or control pickup.

E-punch is not as difficult as you might think, and adequate instruction will be given.

Managing starts is a nice activity that anyone can do, regardless of orienteering experience, so I encourage new members who are looking for a way to help the club to step up. We will have shifts working on the Start line, so you will be able to run a course.

And imagine the newcomers that you can inspire as their beginner-clinic guru. Marriages have even resulted from our beginner clinics!

Driving Directions

The assembly area will be in Benicia Community Park. Its official address is 540 Rose Dr, Benicia​—​that will get you close enough to find us. Alternatively, the approximate coordinates of the assembly area are 38.0862,-122.1586. Or you can follow the directions below.

Note: Do not follow Google Maps directions to "Lake Herman Recreation Area". That would put you on the opposite side of the park.

From the South Bay, most of the East Bay, and the southern half of the Peninsula:

Take I-680 North across the Benicia-Martinez Bridge (toll crossing). Stay in the left lanes on the bridge to merge onto I-780 West. Take the second exit (#5) from I-780, E 2nd St. Go straight-ish (uphill) on E 2nd St, and continue 1.3 miles. At the traffic light, turn left onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.

From Sacramento:

Take I-80 West to I-680 South. Take exit #61 for Mount Herman Road, and turn right. At the stop sign (almost immediately), turn left onto E 2nd St. After 2.1 miles, turn right at the traffic light onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.

From San Francisco, Oakland and surrounding communities, and from the North Bay:

Go to I-80, and take it to Vallejo (toll bridge). Take exit #30A onto I-780 East. After about 5 miles, take exit #5 for E 2nd St, turn right and continue 1.4 miles. At the traffic light, turn left onto Rose Dr. Continue 1.1 miles, and then turn into Benicia Community Park (Dempsey Dr) on your right.