Poster for Point Pinole event
Point Pinole Event Poster
(click on it to enlarge)

Point Pinole Regional Shoreline

Date: (Sun.) Feb. 8, 2026
Location: Richmond, CA
Event Director: - 510.407.1876
Course Setter: Steve Gregg
Type: C; Event for beginners through advanced; beginners and non-members are welcome; free beginner instruction will be available

Related Event Information

Event Results Course Setter’s Notes Attackpoint Event Page (http://www.attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_60246) Last Year’s Event

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


We return to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline (http://www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_pinole/) for our annual event. There will be courses for beginners through advanced orienteers. First-timers and non-members are very welcome.

As usual, we have reserved the Palms Picnic Area as our event center (i.e., the location we have traditionally used). The Palms Picnic Area is a short 5–10 minute walk along a paved walkway from the parking lot. Please park in the Giant Highway parking lot, not in the Atlas Road lot (which is not closer to our event).

A flyer for the park, which includes an overview map, is available here (1.5MB PDF) (https://www.ebparks.org/sites/default/files/Point-Pinole-map_0.pdf).

In addition to our orienteering activities, you can explore the explosive history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Powder_Company) of this park, or check out the wildlife in the woods or by the shoreline.

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! You can explore a course by yourself or go as a team with your friends. You will get a highly detailed orienteering map, probably unlike any map you have seen before. The map will have a lot of detail on it, such as fences, boulders, lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and anything else you might see. Your course will be printed on the map.

Orienteering is easy to learn, a challenge to master, and incredibly fun! You can read more about orienteering here.

Juniors Program

Our second Juniors event will be at the Point Pinole event. We encourage everyone to come join us! If your kids (or you, if you’re a junior yourself) are coming, please RSVP "Yes" here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrF6sFtJPRS0co31JxK2OSXZH3rrOx8Exa_IxLMwijTp9Taw/viewform?usp=dialog) — it's not required, but helps give us an expected count for printing maps.

At this event, we will be offering separate activities for our beginner and intermediate juniors. The beginner activity is aimed at the White/Yellow level, and intermediate at Orange and above.

Here is the schedule for the youth activities:

Email Petra and Julia () with any questions!

Schedule

 9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open
 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM: Beginner instruction is available (free)
 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open for all the courses
                 2:00 PM: Everyone must have returned to the Finish
Note: At registration, all participants under age 18 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 (but 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 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 Beginner (White) and Advanced Beginner (Yellow) courses
  $8 for each adult on Beginner and Advanced Beginner courses
  $5 for each junior on Intermediate (Sprint Orange, Long Orange, Combo Orange) courses  
$15 for each adult member on Intermediate courses
$20 for each adult non-member on Intermediate courses
  $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:
  • There might be a park entrance fee, but only if the kiosk at the parking lot is open. Typically, it has not been open during our past events.
  • You can register at the event or online before the event (see below).
  • At the event, we can accept payment by cash, check, or credit/debit card (but no electronic payments — e.g., PayPal, Venmo).
  • Juniors are age 8 through 20 (under age 8 is free).
  • There is no charge for a second course (but you must end up paying for the more expensive course​—​e.g., an Intermediate course after a 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 (12KB PDF), 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.)

Online Registration

Online registration has closed. You can 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/ptpinole2026) (but keep in mind that others will register at the event.

Venue Facilities

The event center will be at the Palms Picnic Area. Registration, E-punch sign-in/download and the Start/Finish for all the courses will be located there, or nearby. This is the same location we used for our 2025 event, for our inaugural 1997 event, and for almost every event in between (i.e., our "standard location"). Driving directions are provided below.

Picnic tables, piped water, and toilets are available, so please feel free to bring along a picnic lunch to enjoy after you finish your course.

We're planning to have light snacks. (If someone volunteers to bring them!) But please bring your own food if you will want a meal.

What to Bring

For the beginner (White) course, comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

Hiking boots or sturdy running shoes are recommended for the Advanced Beginner (Yellow) course.

Long pants and/or gaiters, and possibly long sleeves, are suggested for the Intermediate (Orange) courses. (See the Course Setter's Notes for comments about thistle plants.)

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

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident 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.)

If participants will want water while on their course, they should plan to carry their own water. There will not be any water at control locations. Piped water is available at the event center, and there is a park water fountain halfway through the Long Orange course (see the Course Setter's Notes).

Courses

As has been the case for the past several years, five courses will be offered: White, Yellow, Sprint Orange, Long Orange, and the "Combo", which is the Sprint Orange course immediately followed by the Long Orange course.

As always, the White course is for beginners and young children, the Yellow course is slightly more difficult, and the Orange courses are for intermediate and advanced orienteers.

Note: Since Point Pinole is one of our flattest BAOC venues, while still providing some forested navigational challenge, it is a very appropriate place for beginners to receive their initial introduction to orienteering. Also, people with experience on Yellow courses might consider "moving up" to one of the Orange courses at this event.

The course details are below. Be sure to read the Course Setter's Notes for more information. 

    Course          Distance   Climb  Controls
    White            2.2 km     30 m     11  
    Yellow           2.7 km     55 m     13
    Sprint Orange    3.3 km     70 m     16  
    Long Orange      5.0 km    100 m     15
    Combo Orange     8.3 km    170 m     31

Beginners should be aware that the distances 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" (in the Course Setters' 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).
The Combo Orange course will have competitors first run the Sprint Orange course, return to the Start for a map exchange, and then run the Long Orange course immediately afterwards (without punching again at the Start). Their course time will be from their start of the Sprint Orange course to their finish of the Long Orange course.
The Combo Orange course requires an E-stick with more capacity than the (ancient) SI-Card5 (ID < 500000) and the (old) SI-Card8 (ID 2xxxxxx). (The rental E-sticks have adequate capacity.)

Hazards

Poison Oak: Participants on all except the beginner (White) course will encounter some poison oak, which you will want to avoid. It looks like this. Washing clothes and shoes and bathing exposed skin with dish-washing soap or a commercial product such as Tecnu is highly recommended to remove the irritant oil (see these recommended precautions).

Horses are occasionally present at this park. Horses always have the right of way. If you encounter a horse, you must stop running and respond to the rider's direction.

Request for Volunteers

We can't make this event happen without your help! Please help make this event a success by volunteering — even helping for part of a shift listed below will be helpful.

You can sign up in this online form (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/197hj7oGD513rcRD7II-vcFt3s0gTciqZFtgEJcxxHOs/edit?usp=sharing) or contact Vicki Woolworth, the Event Director (, 510.407.1876).

Please contact Vicki if you have questions.

Driving Directions

Note: You want the Giant Highway park entrance, not the Atlas Bridge entrance.

The approximate coordinates for the parking lot are 37.992,-122.356. (Note: If you look for the park by name in Google Maps, you'll get wrong final directions. Instead, use the coordinates above or the address "5551 Giant Hwy, Richmond, CA".)

To get there, take the Richmond Parkway exit off Interstate 80 in Richmond, and go west for 1.3 miles. Shortly after the stoplight at San Pablo Avenue, turn right at the next light onto Atlas Road. After 0.8 miles on Atlas, you will cross over a set of railroad tracks and encounter a stop sign. Turn left onto Giant Highway at this intersection (do not go straight). You will pass a detention center on your right, and the park entrance will be immediately after that, also on your right.

There is an entrance kiosk at the parking lot, but a person might not be there to collect the fee. (The fee might have increased this year from $3 to $5.)

Please carpool if possible, since parking might be limited.

From the parking lot, walk up the hill, over the railroad bridge, and follow the paved path to the staging area.