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Lake Herman Recreation Area

Date: (Sun.) Apr. 27, 2025
Location: Benicia, CA
Event Director:
Course Setter: Gavin Wyatt-Mair
Type: C; Event for beginners through advanced; non-members and beginners are welcome; free, brief, beginner instruction will be available (pending park approval)

Related Event Information

Last Year’s Event

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


The information below is preliminary and subject to change.


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.)

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

Note: The course details below will change when the available courses are known.

The following fees apply for this event:

  $3 for each junior on a Beginner course
  $8 for each adult on a Beginner course
  $5 for each junior on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (TBD) course  
$15 for each adult member on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (TBD) course
$20 for each adult non-member on the Intermediate (Orange) or an Advanced (TBD) 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).
  • 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).
  • 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 will be available closer to the event date. Registering in advance saves you time at the event, and makes life easier for the Registration crew. 😊

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 course(s), comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For the Intermediate (Orange) and Advanced (TBD) 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.)

Venue Facilities

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.

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

Course information will be published here closer to the event.

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.