Course Information

Course Information

The Redwood Bowmen range is made up of three separate 14-target courses; the Open Course, the Lower Course, and the Hill Course. Each 14-target course is about a half mile in distance. The highest point on the Open Course is approximately 1,624 feet; the lowest point on the Lower Course is approximately 1,476 feet. The highest point on the Hill Course is approximately 1,820 feet, an elevation gain of approximately 344 feet from the lowest point of the Lower Course!

The Open and Lower Courses make up the most often used parts of our range because of their proximity to each other. In fact, they intersect in a way that requires you to interrupt your Open Course round halfway through, complete your Lower Course round, and then finish your Open Course round. Because of this, we most often place the Field and Hunter targets on the Open and Lower Courses respectively –click here for a free downloadable scorecard brochure and marker yardage chart.

The Open and Lower Courses are in the North West quadrant of the range. The Hill Course is so named because it is situated at higher elevation in the South East quadrant of the range.

The Open Course has fewer trees, is the warmer and more exposed of the three courses, and poses the most glare challenges. The Lower Course is a bit more shaded, and has more Oak and other trees mixed in with the Redwoods. There is a gradual descent into the Lower Course from the Open Course, and a steep climb out of the Lower Course at the Rest Area between Target 10 and 11 – this climb is referred to as “Heart Attack Hill.”

From the very first target, the Hill Course requires the most uphill hiking through numerous “switchback” trails. It is also completely situated in a breath-taking Redwood Forest . The Animal Targets are most often placed on the Hill Course, providing a realistic and challenging experience for archers preparing for hunting season. Please remember – no broad heads in our bales! The Hill Course provides a shady refuge from the sun during the summer months, and some of the most stunning scenery in the East Bay hills.

We have plans to add Hunter stakes to the Hill Course and Field stakes to the Lower Course enabling target rotation and more versatility. Keep an eye out!

General Information

Please take the time to read our Range and Rules posted at the entrance to the range and in the Practice Area. Ask an experienced archer if you don't know what something means.

We do our best to clear brush and maintain the trails of our course during Member Work Days. We also get periodic help from the Park District. However because we provide the most natural setting possible there is a Poison Oak population. Think twice and weigh the potential cost of searching through the brush for a stray arrow if you are highly susceptible to Poison Oak or Sumac.

Our target bales are made of re-used carpeting coated with tar. We maintain our bales in the best possible condition by replacing them whenever they are worn. Please help us keep them in good condition by using the practice area for repetitive distance use and remember no broad heads in our bales!

A fresh set of target faces go up on the Second Sunday of each month for our Club Shoot. We do our best to replace “shot out” targets in between Club Shoots. We replace the Practice Area targets more often.

Bale and target replacement are the biggest costs involved in maintaining a range – Member dues and Novelty shoots are our only source of revenue. We don't charge a fee for the use of our range, but appreciate donations – feel free to throw a couple of bucks in the donation “tube” whenever you use our range!

There are a number of “outhouse” style bathroom facilities located on the courses. We do our best to keep them up, so please help us out by being considerate of those using them after you!

Like all ranges, we provide bow rack stands at the first shooting stake and bale of every target. We do our best to keep them up – please let us know if you come across a broken peg or loose post.

We would prefer that you use a hiker's ethic for trash – “pack it in and pack it out.” However, there is a yellow garbage pail on every bow stand – we'd rather you throw it in the pail then on the ground. Volunteer members empty and sort the trash pails – it's not an enviable job, so please help them out by emptying liquids from your beverage containers before depositing them in the pail. We responsibly recycle plastic and aluminum waste.

If you lose an arrow or two, don't lose hope. We quite often find stray arrows when clearing brush during our Member Work Days. Ask a member if you can rummage through the lost arrow bucket (locked in the Range House).