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Presidio of San Francisco

Fort Winfield Scott area

Event #1 of 6 in the BAOC 2026 Summer Series

Date: (Sun.) May. 31, 2026
Location: San Francisco, CA
Event Directors: ,
Course Setter: Matteo Guareschi
Type: C; 2026 Summer Series event #1: beginner course and two Summer Series courses; beginners and non-members are welcome; free beginner instruction available; participation in other Summer Series events is not required

Course Setter's Notes

By Matteo Guareschi

Have you ever dreamed of finding a control half a mile onto Golden Gate Bridge? No? You are in luck, it won't happen this year either.

But I do hope you'll enjoy the wonderful views this park has to offer, especially if the weather holds. The West side of the map, along the coast, is particularly beautiful if you have some time to spare.

Out-Of-Bound Areas

Unfortunately, the Presidio map is, over time, more and more marred by out-of-bound areas. Fortunately, we can use them to our advantage to create interesting legs.

This is only possible when everyone is really careful about staying out of all the out-of-bound areas (which is also an important condition of our permit).

You will see these areas on the map:

• Olive green: Private lawns and other forbidden greeneries. These are not always obvious — please look carefully at the map.

• Purple cross-hatched: Areas of habitat restoration, sensitive vegetation, and construction work. Some construction areas are very recent, so I have tried to keep the courses away from them.

Underpasses

Several highways and roads run over (and under) the Presidio. The roads are clearly mapped as out-of-bounds areas, but you can often run under them. These underpasses are marked on the map using the non-standard symbol of black cross-hatching.

For example, in the map segment at the right, two underpasses are shown as black cross-hatched breaks in the magenta, out-of-bounds cross-hatching on the highway. One underpass is under the toll plaza (at the upper left; the southwestern end of the underpass is by the [unlabeled] bus stop); the second underpass is on the narrow road southeast of the middle of the map segment.

Hazards

Poison oak is present, but not prevalent on most of the courses — there's more on the Long course than the Short and Beginner courses.

Same for ticks. I haven't seen them, but you can bet they are lurking. Be sure to follow the recommended precautions.

You are likely to spend some time on, or crossing, a few roads. Drivers are not particularly aware of orienteers, so always pay attention, and please wear really bright colors (this is also a condition of our permit)!

Map and Courses

All the maps are printed at 1:7,500, and the contour interval is 20 ft.

Expect to find mostly standard stake+bag controls, but a few of them will be on cones like we use for Sprint events. The picture below is an example — note that there will not be a control bag at such controls. The E-punch units are lower than usual, about 2 feet off the ground.

      Example Control

Here are the course details:

    Course      Length    Climb  Controls
    Beginner    1.9 km     60 m     11  
    Short       3.0 km     65 m      7  
    Long        5.1 km    200 m     11

Be sure to read the course comments on the event announcement page.

Also, if you are interested in doing well in the Summer Series, make sure you understand how the competition is structured, and in particular, the scoring system.

Assembly Area

Like last year, we will be at Fort Winfield Scott, with both Start and Finish located just a few steps away from the Assembly Area.

Parking can be hard at times, especially if kids leagues are on. All parking in the Presidio requires payment either at a machine or through the app, and each location is very local — if you move your car, you will probably have to pay again at the new location.

This is particularly important if you are planning to run the Sprint course that Dennis Wildfogel has put together — and you should make a point of doing that!

Don't forget to download after running your course!

Sprint Course Setter's Notes

If you will be doing the "Bonus" Sprint, be sure to read the Sprint Course Setter’s Notes for more information about the Sprint. Most importantly, those Notes explain how to get to the Sprint Start.