Benicia/Channing Hill (Information and photos courtesy of Jaan Taagepera)

For the past several years, a few local pilots have been flying the hills between Benicia and Vallejo.  More recently, other Bay Area pilots looking for a site to fly in the winter, when  winds are from the east, have been visiting Benicia to get airtime.  It’s a relatively small site, but it can be a fun place  to fly.

As with any new site, you should get a site intro from a local before flying here.  It will make your flying safer, more fun and it will help to preserve the site. One important point to remember about this site is that, on the east side, we fly over a large corner of private property. This area is clearly defined by two barbed wire fences with yellow signs on it.  Do not land here.   If you do find yourself on the ground in this area, be discreet and get off the private property as soon as possible.  Give Jaan Taagepera a call before you plan to go for the first time.  His phone numbers are 510.242.3405 (work) and 707.746.8516 (home).  You can call Jaan between 8:30 AM and 8:30 PM.  You can also email him at jaan_pg@sbcglobal.net.  He checks his email every couple of days.  You can also try contacting Joel at 707.758.1078 or joelmcminn@gmail.com or Ron at 707.333.8308 or rlee@remax.net.

For flying Benicia/Vallejo, check the winds at http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCABENIC2.  Joel McMinn runs the weather station from his house, which is about 300 yards SW of the west-side LZ.  Check out the photos on the paraglide Benicia/Vallejo link on the weather site.

The east side works best with E to ESE winds from 7-20 mph.  Less than 7 mph will provide only extended sled rides.  The west side will work in SW to NW winds, but W is best. Look for 10-15 mph, gusting to under 20.

Directions From I-80:

Take HWY 80 to HWY 780 towards Benicia/Martinez.  Keep on HWY 780, over the hill.  If you look to the left as you're going down the hill, you can see the site.  At the bottom of the hill you'll see the Columbus Parkway exit.  The Columbus Parkway exit will make a 270 degree turn and cross the freeway.  Do not turn onto Columbus Parkway.  (You can turn right to go into the mini mall that has a Shell gas station/convenience store, as well as a Subway, Burger King and some better restaurants, such as Palermos Italian restaurant and Hula Hut Hawaiian.  Note that the only way out that lets you turn left is in the middle, between the Jiffy Lube and the Shell station.)

Continue straight from the off-ramp 270 degrees towards the hill on Rose Drive.  Continue on Rose Drive. 9/10 miles from Columbus.  There is a stop sign at Corcoran Court.  The next left is Oxford Circle.

Take Oxford Circle to the second left, at Channing Circle (not the first left onto Channing Circle).  Follow Channing Circle, about 100 yards, to Channing Circle Park on the right hand side.  This is the flying site.  You can go back the same way you came, except turn left at the lights (counter intuitively) off of Rose Drive.  Drive onto Columbus Parkway to get back to HWY 780 towards Vallejo.

Take HWY 680 towards Sacramento.  Go left immediately after the Benicia-Martinez bridge toll plaza onto HWY 780.  Take HWY 780 to Columbus Parkway.  Turn right onto Rose Drive and continue as described, above.  You can go back the same way you came, except continue on Rose Drive, across Columbus Parkway at the lights, to get over the freeway and back onto HWY 780 towards Martinez.

Continue on Oxford Circle past both Channings.  Turn left on Bantry.  Before the first house on the left is an opening which is a trailhead.  Follow the trail and take the ridge trail that intersects it. This area is attractive, since once you head south on your base leg you can turn left (East) for the final approach into the wind.  Land in the firebreak and take it East to the Bantry trailhead.

Eating in Benicia:

Besides the mini-mall at the corner of Rose Drive and Columbus Parkway, there is a shopping center with a Raley's supermarket (with deli), another Burger King, a fast food Chinese restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a Subway, Country Waffles (adequate breakfast in the corner nearest the off-ramps) and Starbucks, at the NE corner of HWY 780 and Southhampton Drive (turn uphill off the off-ramp).

More restaurants can be found on East 2nd Street (turn left off the off-ramp), which has a McDonald's near the freeway.  If you take the last driveway on the right, before the lights at Military, there is a coffee shop with deli sandwiches, a Nations Burgers, Baskin-Robbins and an Italian restaurant.  (An alternate route to East 2nd Street, from the hill, is to take Oxford to Rose Drive, go left on Rose Drive and then right, when Rose Drive intersects East 2nd Street.)

The best selection of restaurants is on 1st Street. Take the East 2nd Street exit and turn left.  Take East 2nd Street to the lights at Military and then turn right onto Military.  Make the next left onto 1st Street.  If you turn right off of Military, you’ll find a KFC, Pizza Pirate and a deli (both behind the Bank of America).  On 1st Street, Jaan's favorite restaurants include Issy’s, Sandoval’s and Randy’s (all Mexican), the 1st Street Café (in a green building, on a SE corner -- good breakfast, lunch and dinner), Sala Thai (on the West side, in the middle of the block -- it has a brown sign), Szechuan House (on the east side) and Shoreline and Captain Blyther’s (both have good views) in the last two buildings on the West side of the street. The bar at Blyther’s is a good place to drown your sorrows or celebrate your achievements.

If you need gas downtown, there’s a Valero station on the West side of East 2nd Street, just uphill (North) from HWY 780, and a Chevron on the North side of Military West, between 1st Street and West 2nd Street.