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Huddart Park

Date: (Sun.) Nov. 17, 2013
Location: Woodside, CA
Event Directors: - 650.906.9672, - 650.867.5476, Tom Cronin - 650.368.9206
Course Setters: Matthias Kohler, Nick Corsano
Type: B; Standard seven beginner to advanced courses, plus a Long Orange course

Related Event Information

Course Setters' Notes 2011 Huddart Park Event Event Results

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


BAOC returns to the dramatic redwood forests of Huddart Park on the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains above Woodside. We will offer all seven standard courses, plus a Long Orange course (approximately 50% more distance and climb than regular Orange), so there will be something for everyone from beginners to advanced orienteers. The usual event schedule and fees will be in effect, and electronic punching will be used.

Huddart is a steep park. The club map from the 1990s has a contour interval of 7.5 meters, and suffers from some imprecision in contour lines (typical of redwood forest). There is now 5-meter LIDAR available, but unfortunately we were not able to develop a map from it in time for this year's event.

We will be based at the Werder Shelter. Parking, registration, the finish, picnic tables, restrooms, and a kids’ playground are all nearby. All the courses will use a remote start, a gentle 15-minute walk from Werder.

Huddart is popular with equestrians, and it is mandatory that all runners yield the right of way to horses. If you encounter people on horseback, you must stand by the side of the trail and let them go by. If you are about to emerge from the woods onto a trail, look and listen for horses first, and wait if they are nearby.

There are likely to be hikers and other group events in the area. Please be considerate of them, too.

No dogs are allowed in the park.

Courses

Here are the course statistics: 

   Course         Length      Climb    Controls

   White          2.2 km       75 m        9
   Yellow         2.4 km      110 m       10
   Orange         3.5 km      175 m       14
   Long Orange    5.0 km      250 m       20
   Brown          3.0 km      190 m       12
   Green          3.9 km      245 m       15
   Red            4.6 km      350 m       19
   Blue           5.8 km      425 m       24

Be sure to read the Course Setters' Notes.

Map

Experienced Bay Area orienteers are used to the imprecise nature of contour lines on our maps of redwood forests. In the case of Huddart Park, it appears that not only are individual contour lines sometimes suspect, the contour interval itself has been misleading us. The contour interval has always been shown as 7.5 meters (yes, I checked the 1992 offset-printed map), but data from GPS and LIDAR indicate that the average contour interval is actually just about 5 meters. That is what your maps will say on Sunday, and that's the figure used to compute the course statistics above.

All the maps for Sunday are printed at 1:7500 scale, not the normal 1:10000 scale.

Volunteers

We still need a few more helpers, particularly for control pickup. Contact if you would like to volunteer.

Driving Directions

From the Bayshore Freeway (US 101) or Interstate 280 on the Peninsula, go west on Highway 84 (Woodside Road). About a mile past 280, you will come to a stop sign at the intersection of Mountain Home, Cañada Road, and Woodside Road (near Roberts Market). (Heed the 25 mph speed limit in Woodside!) Continue straight for 0.7 miles to Kings Mountain Road. Turn right (northwest) and follow Kings Mountain Road for 2.1 miles to the park entrance. Pay your fee at the entrance station and follow the park signs to the Werder Picnic Shelter. Park in any of the designated areas along the road.

There is a park entry fee of $6 per vehicle. If the entry kiosk is not staffed, you must use a self-service process nearby (which involves putting exact cash in an envelope).

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