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Bon Tempe Reservoir

Date: Jan. 13 - 14, 2018
Location: Fairfax, CA
Event Director: - 510.525.1574
Course Setter: George Minarik
Type: B; Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event; LIMITED ATTENDANCE; RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

Related Event Information

Last Year's Event Event Results

Please note that fees and time limits apply, unless otherwise mentioned below. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


Reservations are now closed for both days. If you don't have a reservation, you cannot run at the event.


This annual event is being held in honor of the BAOC volunteers who have worked hard and used their skills to create orienteering experiences for all of us. The event is open (and free) for all who have volunteered to help at BAOC and GCO events in 2017. Also for those who have volunteered to direct events, set courses, or serve as board members in 2018.

The event will take place over two days, Saturday & Sunday, January 13th & 14th. The courses will be the same both days.

The Bon Tempe Reservoir is a beautiful orienteering area located on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais near Fairfax in Marin County. The varied and technical challenges encompass both steep redwood forest areas and beautiful oak woodlands. The map, which was made two years ago by Bill Cusworth, is up to international standards.

The park managers have allowed us only a limited number of spaces for each day. So, as usual, advanced reservations will be required, and will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis. Please do not show up at the park without a reservation. You will not be allowed to compete. To reserve a spot, email with your preferred day and course. He will send you a confirmation. Also, he will send an email out if and when the daily quotas are filled.

As stated above, this event is free to all participants. Well, okay, there is an expense​—​there is a park toll of $8.00 per car at the ranger kiosk. This kiosk is staffed sometimes, but usually not, so you will most likely need to use their electronic toll machine that takes cash up to $10 bills, but it does not always return change! You can also use your debit or credit card to pay at the machine.

BAOC is a great, all-volunteer organization. Thank you all for making it succeed.

Schedule For Both Days

 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts open
           2:00 PM: Courses close

Courses

Unlike past years, we will have the full set of courses this year! Here are the course statistics: 

    Course    Distance    Climb   Controls
    White      2.4 km      90 m      10   
    Yellow     2.6 km     100 m      13
    Orange     3.4 km     145 m      13
    Brown      3.4 km     160 m      12
    Green      5.0 km     280 m      15
    Red        5.7 km     310 m      17
    Blue       6.8 km     370 m      20

There will be a 500-meter walk from the registration/parking area to the Start. The Finish is adjacent the registration area.

Be sure to read the Course Notes below for more information.

Check-In and Start Procedures

We will have a remote Start, which is a 500 m walk along a flat road. It takes less than 10 minutes.

You will pick up your map at check-in, but it is prohibited to look at it until after you punch the START punch.

Upon arriving at Registration:

  1. Check-in your E-stick.
  2. Sign the waiver.
  3. Pick up map and control description (do not look at the map!).
  4. Pick up a small map segment showing the route to the Start, and walk to the Start.
  5. Enter your name on the self-signup sheet. Keep a two-minute (or more) interval between starts on each course.
  6. CLEAR & CHECK your E-stick.
  7. Put your walk-to-start map in the provided container.
  8. At your selected start time, punch START.
  9. Look at the map and go!

Course Notes

The map is of IOF standard. The scale is 1:10000 with 5-meter contours.

The following symbols (and others) are used:

Because of a forest-thinning program, some areas mapped as green have become very runnable. You may also notice wood piles from this thinning process that are not mapped.

A circle is used as a control description on all the courses. This indicates a group of redwoods, aka a fairy ring.

There is water at the remote Start. There is no water on White. There is one water stop each on Yellow, Orange, Brown, and Green. There are two water stops each on Red and Blue.

There may be poison oak out there, but the course setter hasn't been able to identify any of it.

All the courses cross roads that have light traffic. Be careful crossing!

Thanks To ...

Event Volunteers Needed

We will need the following volunteers:

Driving Directions

The first challenge of the event is to locate it! Due to MMWD rules, no directional signs will be posted. There are several ways to get to Bon Tempe from Highway 101 in Marin. the default route is listed here:

From Highway 101 in Greenbrae, take the Sir Francis Drake Blvd exit, and go west for 5.5 miles to the town of Fairfax. Turn left at Claus Dr (Rino gas station on the right), and then immediately take another left onto Broadway. Turn right at the next corner, which is Bolinas Rd.

Stay on Bolinas Rd for 1.5 miles. Turn left at the large, brown, wooden sign with white lettering that says "Lake Lagunitas". Stay on this road until you reach the ranger kiosk. Pay the entrance fee ($8 per car) at the pay-and-display machine (see comments above).

Proceed on the paved road to the parking lot at the very end. (Do not turn right onto the gravel road to Bon Tempe Dam.)

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