• Mt Diablo State Park (map)
  • CA 94506
  • United States

2025 Nav-X GPS MAP TREK #1 @ Mt Diablo State park

Quick Info

  • Date: 2025, Wednesday, January 1 to Friday, February 28

  • Location: Mt Diablo State Park, start at the Rock City Picnic Area

  • Courses: 2hr & 4hr GPS Map Trek; MapRun links: 2-hr event; 4-hr event

  • New 2025 Prices: $17 (2h) & $22 (4h); Juniors 50% off, Club members $2 off; also see below for new pre-printed map options.

  • Suggested Race Time: Sunday, Feb. 16 at 10am

Registrations are open for Nav-X 2025! The new season begins on the first day of the new year, with a GPS event on a brand new map in Mt Diablo State Park!

Notes about registration: An Orienteering USA membership is not required: instead, use the Enter Data Manually option instead.

If you are part of a team, everyone on your team (over 12 years of age) must register separately.

INTRODUCTION

  • We have set up a course with 61 checkpoints on a new map in the Mt. Diablo SP, Rock City area near Danville, CA. Get as many checkpoints as you can in either 2 or 4 hours using the Smartphone app named “MapRun” to record your visit to each checkpoint based on your GPS position.

  • New this year: we are offering pre-printed maps for $10. Maps will be mailed to you within 5 days and should arrive in your mailbox within 7 days total. For Mt. Diablo, you need to order your map (13"x19" map at 1:10000 scale) by Jan. 31.

  • Our suggested race time is Sunday, February 16 at 10am. We will have a Nav-X team member there to hand out pre-printed maps (1:10,000 scale,13"x19") and control descriptions, if you register for this option ($6) by February 10. Since this is not an official event, there will be no signage so just meet the Nav-X staff member at the start triangle (Rock City Picnic Area). The maps will be available from 9:00am - noon.

  • Note that checkpoints #33 and #80 have been moved because they were on private property. You will need to download the MapRun event that includes “Ver 2” in the title.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES

  • YOU ARE DOING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK - WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURIES OR DEATH.  HAZARDS INCLUDE STEEP HILLS, LOOSE ROCKS, CLIFFS, OCCASIONAL DENSE AND SHARP BRUSH, POISON OAK AND TICKS.

  • CELL COVERAGE - Cell phone coverage in the park is spotty.

  • WHISTLE - Due to the self-serve format, you may be completely on your own when you run your course. Be aware of this! You should bring a whistle in case of an emergency.  

  • WATER -  Available at the Rock City bathroom near the start. It is recommended to bring all the water you need on the course with you.

  • POISON OAK - There is poison oak in the terrain, but it is basically bare stalks and can be avoided by "going around" or "weaving" a bit. It’s still necessary to take the proper precautions.

  • TICKS - There are ticks, so do check yourself after your run. After it freezes a few nights, the ticks will be pretty much gone.

EVENT INFORMATION

  • MAPRUN - Please see this page for instructions on how to use the MapRun smartphone app.  It’s important that you load the course while you still have Internet service.  Search for “2025 Nav -X GPS Map Trek Mt. Diablo SP” and pick the right course (2 hr or 4 hr). Or you can click one of the links provided above to load the course. Be sure to download the MapRun event that includes “Ver 2” in the title (2 checkpoints were moved because they were on private property).

  • DIRECTIONS TO VENUE: From I-680 in Danville, take exit 40A for El Cerro Blvd. heading east. Continue onto Diablo Rd (total 7.7 mi) and then turn left onto Mt Diablo Scenic Blvd, which becomes S Gate Rd, and follow for ~5 miles to the Rock City Picnic Area. If the parking area is full, there are several more parking lots in the vicinity.

  • PARKING  - Day use parking passes ($10) can be purchased from the entrance station along S Gate Rd, ~ 1 mile before the parking area. If you have a "Golden Poppy" pass or equivalent, it is free.

  • BATHROOMS - There is a full bathroom located near all the parking lots.

  • GEAR RECOMMENDATION - We recommend participants bring the following:

    • Smartphone - goes without saying since we are using an app for timing

    • Compass

    • Long pants or at least gaiters for the tall grass, brush, and poison oak

    • Snacks & Water, especially if you are on the 4-hr course

    • Whistle for safety

  • TRASH - While on the course, practice Leave No Trace (LNT) - bring all trash back to the parking area.

  • BE DISCREET - We don’t have a permit so try not to be too noticeable when entering or exiting off-trail areas.

MAP & COURSE NOTES

  • VENUE - Mount Diablo is a California State Park. The Rock City Picnic Area (Start and Finish) is well maintained and has many picnic sites, with tables and bathrooms nearby. It's a great place to bring family while you are running your course. The Rock City area also has lots of huge rock formations. Mt. Diablo SP is absolutely gorgeous in the winter months. There are many fantastic views on the course and at various checkpoints. You may be able to see as far as the Sierras on a clear day! The brand new map is accurate and can be relied upon completely. Footing is good, although slipperiness may depend on recent rainfall, so try to choose a dry patch for your run. Coyotes, deer, squirrels and birds are abundant and healthy.

  • PROHIBITED AREAS: Residences, maintenance yards, etc. Observe the restricted areas (hashed purple lines on map).

  • MAP - The brand new map was created by Bill Cusworth in Nov and Dec 2024. It has 5 meter contours, vegetation density (3 shades of green), cliffs, and water features based on high quality LIDAR data from 2018. Roads, trails, fences, and other features were added using Google Maps aerial imagery and StreetView and Strava Global heatmap. Other features were added and adjusted during field checking but the map lacks most orienteering-level detail such as boulders, knolls, rootstocks, single trees, etc. Also, there are a number of unmapped fences and animal trails.

  • TERRAIN - The vegetation consists mostly of open grassland, oak forest, and manzanita areas. The Lidar auto-generated vegetation is very accurate. Dark green is typically Chaparral or Manzanita and should be avoided. Medium and Light green areas are difficult to penetrate, or are nasty - you should minimize going through it. The white areas are most often oak forest and are definitely nice and easy to run through, as are the yellow, open grassland areas. Pay attention to contours - slopes can be steep! Most streams run in deep ditches, but can be readily crossed where the contours are further apart.

  • COURSE - The course was designed by Gavin Wyatt-Mair. There are 61 checkpoints varying in point value from 30 to 100 points with a total possible point total of 3900. The approximate straight-line distance to get them all is about 17 km. Generally, higher value checkpoints are farther from the start, harder to find, or some combination of both.

  • MARKERS - All checkpoints have been streamered with orange flagging tape, and a few with neon green flagging tape. Streamers sometimes get removed by humans (already saw this once) or get chewed by animals - so if MapRun beeps at a checkpoint but you see no streamer, don't worry - just carry on. Conversely, if you get to a streamer and MapRun does not beep, you can get it fixed by following the steps in the instruction document. The start/finish does not have flagging because it is in a public place.

  • START - The Start is shown on your map as a triangle and is on a large bare rock about 20 meters north of the parking area in Rock City, just far enough from the parking area so that you don’t accidentally trigger it when you park. Do not approach the Start until you are ready to go! MapRun will start you automatically and alert you by beeping once you are within ~15 meters of the Start.

  • FINISH - the Finish is marked on your map with a double circle and is located at the same place as the start. When you are within ~15 meters of the Finish, MapRun will register a finish. Do not approach the Finish until you are ready to end your course. (Depending on the device, it may be possible to continue the course after this, for example if you approached the finish spot by accident. However, this might not work for you, so we recommend you don’t go near the finish until you are done.) If you accidentally Finish, you can save your route, and then Start again to complete your run and then submit both tracks to get credit. Remember also to upload your result after you finish (if it doesn’t happen automatically).

  • SCORING: Just like our other events, each checkpoint has a point value reflecting the difficulty (higher point value for tougher checkpoints). The point value is the “10 part” of the checkpoint code. Examples: 33 = 30 points, 50 = 50 points, 88 = 80 points, etc. Late penalty is 10 points per minute or any part of a minute (1:01 late = -20 pts).

  • MAP PRINTING - We are providing a Zip file with the map documents in PDF format within 24 hrs of registration. The text checkpoint descriptions are on the map. You will need to print your own maps or choose one of the 2 new pre-printed map options. For $10, you can have a map mailed to your address (allow 7 days for maps to arrive); this option is available until Jan. 31 on the registration page. For $6, you can pick up a map at the in-person meetup on Feb. 16 from 9am-noon; this option is available until Feb. 10.