Friday Jan 17 -- Red Top Mountain State Park

General Information

Location

Red Top Mountain State Park
Address: 50 Lodge Road SE, Acworth, GA 30102
Typically less than 1 hr 30 mins drive from Atlanta International Airport Rental Car Center on Friday mornings.


Click map to open in a new window.

Red Top Mountain State Park website (includes Maps and Directions)
*** Please obey the park speed limits at all times ***

Site Map - Park Overview

Click map to open in a new window.

Friday Meet HQ

Red Top Mountain State Park -- Iron Hill Parking Lot
Access via Red Top Mountain Rd SE.

Friday Site Map

Click map to open in a new window.

Registration & Check in

Packet pick up will be available at the Iron Hill parking area from 11:00 am - 4:30 pm.

Starts

Starts will be from 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Maximum Time is 2 hours. Courses close at 5:00 pm.

Map

Map scale for Brown course (except F-18) is 1:7,500 with 5 meter contours, ISOM2017-2 standard.
All other courses, map scale is 1:10,000 with 5 meter contours, ISOM2017-2 standard.

Embargo

Red Top Mountain State Park south of Iron Hill parking lot and west of Red Top Mountain Rd is embargoed from June 1, 2024.

The 2024 Red Top Mountain State Park map is available to download here.

Course maps from various GAOC local events and GNC-2024 are on GAOC's RouteGadget here.

Courses

Course	OUSA Classes	Dist/Climb/Cntrls	Map Scale
White	F-10, F-12, M-10, M-12, M/F White, Grp White	TBD	1:10,000
Yellow	F-14, M-14, F Yellow, M Yellow, Grp Yellow	TBD	1:10,000
Orange	F-16, M-16, F Orange, M Orange	TBD	1:10,000
Brown-X	F55+, F60+, F65+, F Brown, M65+, M70+, M75+, M Brown	TBD	1:7,500
Brown-Y	F70+, F75+, F80+, F85+, F90+ M80+, M85+, M90+	TBD	1:7,500
Brown-Z	F-18	TBD	1:10,000
Green	M-18, F-20, F35+, F40+, F45+, F50+ M50+, M55+, M60+ F Green, M Green	TBD	1:10,000
Red	F-21+ M-20, M35+, M40+, M45+ M Red	TBD	1:10,000
Blue	M-21+	TBD	1:10,000

Restrooms

Porta-potties will be available in the parking lot area.

Cell Phone Service

Cell phone coverage is generally good.

Parking

Please car pool, parking is limited.

All passenger vehicles must have a state park parking pass. Rates are charged based on vehicle capacity, not the number of actual passengers. Cars and vans with 1-12 passenger capacity are $5/day. You will need a pass for each day you are in the park. Georgia Yellow School buses are state vehicles and are exempt from parking charges and do not require a parking pass. Buses, other school buses and 13+ passenger vehicles MUST display a Park Pass each day.
If you are bringing a bus, please contact the Meet Director in advance.

You risk a ticket without a parking pass!

You can pull an envelope from the green boxes in the parking areas and follow the instructions if you use cash. You can buy your Daily Park Pass online. You can print your pass and place it on your dashboard or simply pull an envelope and write your pass number on it before placing it on your dashboard.

Practice map

TBD

Babysitting

Babysitting will not be provided. Please do not plan on just leaving your young child at the Meet HQ. Please let the Registrar know if you have special start time requests that would help your own child care arrangements.

Emergency Information

In the case of a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
First aid kits and an AED will be located at Meet HQ.
Should you require additional medical aid, the nearest hospital emergency room is:
Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center, approximately 11 miles (20 minutes) northwest of Red Top Mountain State Park
Address and phone: 960 Joe Frank Harris Pkwy SE, Cartersville, GA 30120 (470) 490-1000

Search and Rescue (SAR)

The SAR coordinator for Friday is Fred Zendt. His cell phone number is (678) 640-5828. Put this number in your cell phone now.

He can be found through Meet HQ. Please coordinate the search and rescue of all missing or injured persons through Meet HQ.
Do not attempt search and rescue operations of your own.

Time Limits

Time limit is 2 hours on all courses. You must return to the Finish, punch the Finish control and Download your ePunch within 2 hours after you start, whether you complete your course or not. Do not go out on a course if you do not have the means to tell the time and how long you have been out. This generally means a watch or a cellphone.

Safety

If you have been out for 2 hours or it is clear that you cannot finish in 2 hours, you must return immediately and report to the Finish.
A paved road runs more or less North to South along the east side of the map. Lake Allatoona bounds the other three side of the map. To return to the Finish, head west to the road, relocate and navigate along the road to the finish area. If unsure of where you are, STAY on any road or trail you come across.

Carry a whistle. One will be provided upon request. Three (3) short blasts from a whistle indicate an emergency. Blowing the whistle otherwise will result in Disqualification. If you are lost after the courses close, you are already disqualified, and it is an emergency. Please blow your whistle so that we can locate you before it gets dark. You are encouraged to carry a cell phone to be able to call in an emergency. If your calls do not go through, try text messages. Before starting your course, make a contingency plan. Share your start time, expected finish time and contact details with someone who can raise the alarm. The courses close at 5:00 pm. Sunset is at 5:54 pm and last light is at 6:21 pm.

Assist an injured competitor. If another competitor is hurt and in need of assistance, help to the best of your ability or go to summon help. Report the injured competitor’s bib number and exact location to officials at the Finish or Start line.

Clothing Return

TBD.

Warm up

TBD.

Walk to Start

Follow signs from the parking area to the start. Walk to Start is approximately TBD.

Control Descriptions

Control descriptions will be available at the Start and also printed on the map.

Call Up

Be at the Call-up area approximately 5-10 minutes before your Start time.
Call up is 3 minutes before your start time.
After Call-up there will be a one-minute stage and then the Map line. Control descriptions will be available at the 1-min line.
At the Map line you will receive your map. Markers will be available to write your bib number on the back of the map.

If you finish before the last start, we will collect your map at the finish. You may retrieve your map once all competitors have started. There are only sufficient maps for each person to have one each day, so please do not take anyone else’s.

Finish Line

When arriving at the finish line, be sure to punch the “Finish” control at the Finish banner.
Proceed immediately to the Download Station to have your e-stick read. Take the printout of your results and split times.

If not all competitors have started, you will be asked to turn in your map and may pick it up later. Once you have finished, you may not re-enter the competition area without permission of the Meet Director.
Rental e-sticks must returned on the last day of your competition at the Download Station.

Map and Course Setter Notes

Red Top Mountain State Park is mostly ridge and reentrant terrain. The map uses symbols set forth in ISOM 2017. North lines are spaced at 300m. Map scale for Middle distance courses is 1:10,000 with 5m contours with the exception of Brown-X and Brown-Y courses which are printed at 1:7,500 with 5m contours.

The Park is surrounded on three sides by Lake Allatoona, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Etowah River. As a reservoir, the lake level fluctuates throughout the year. Currently, the lake level is 12-13 feet below full pool, exposing boulders, tree stumps, and hills that are normally submerged. Features that would be submerged if the lake were full are not mapped. The full pool level is represented on the map with the earth bank symbol (without tags), and the estimated lake level is represented with the uncrossable body of water symbol. The area between the full pool level and the estimated lake level is represented with the rough open land symbol. Generally, the exposed area between the actual shoreline and full pool is runnable (although muddy close to the water). A few locations are very rocky and hardly passable. These rocky areas are not mapped. Keep this in mind when choosing your routes.

Individual boulders that are 1 to 1.5 meters high are represented on the map with the regular boulder symbol. The medium boulder symbol is used for boulders 1.5 -2 meters high. The large boulder symbol is used for boulders higher than 2 meters. Individual boulders less than 1 meter high are not mapped. The boulder cluster symbol (equilateral triangle) is used for a group of boulders (each at least 1 meter high) that are to close to map individually. The boulder field symbol (scalene triangle) is used for a group of scattered boulders that are typically 0.5 to 1 meter high or at least 1 meter wide.

Deadfall that impedes running but does not impede visibility is mapped with vertical green lines (vegetation, slow running, good visibility).

Features mapped as rides are old road beds, often so old that they are barely discernable when running across, but are usually easy to follow when running along.

Non-standard symbols used are:

• Rootstocks are mapped with the green “X” symbol (prominent vegetation feature). Rootstocks less than 1 meter high are not mapped.
• Black ‘O’ used for "junk pile" and man-made pile of rocks. Must be ~1m high or otherwise very visible.
• Black ‘X’ used for man-made object that is not trash/junk. Must be ~1m high or otherwise very visible.

Reserve Punch Boxes

In the rare event that an electronic punch units fail, 3 Reserve Punch boxes are provided on the map. Use the pin punch at the control to record your presence at the control.