We had a beautiful sunny day at Schenck Forest, with temperatures in the mid-60s, perfect weather for orienteering! Alan and I were a little nervous about sharing the roads and potentially parking with NC State Fair traffic, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to cause much trouble for most people. We had prepared six courses and […]

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We will have an open event at Umstead Park North on Sunday November 1, 2026. Enter from 8800 Glenwood Ave. From the park entrance go south past the visitor center to the parking lots at the end of the road. Registration and starts will be in the large picnic shelter to the E of the parking area.

GPS: 35.871750, -78.760915

Remember that clocks go back on Saturday night and we revert to standard time,

Registration will close at 6pm Friday October 30th.:

Remember that clocks go back on Saturday night and we revert to standard time,

This event is open to all skill levels and and we will have White through Red courses. Start anytime between 10:30am and 12:30pm. Courses close at 2:00pm when we start picking up controls. Be sure to check in at the shelter after your course so we know everyone made it back.

Proposed courses:

White (beginner, 2.3km 10 controls)
Yellow (2.5km 11 controls)
Orange (3.1km 11 controls)
Brown (3.8km 13 controls)
Green (5.4km 13 controls)
Red (7.1km 16 controls)

Please be careful when crossing park roads, particularly if you have children with you.

Beginners may prepare themselves by watching the videos on our Newcomer Information Page. If you need additional instruction or have questions, please ask one of the BOK volunteers at registration.

We expect to have Livelox available to allow you to view your track and compare it to those of others. It may not be available before you start your course.

Help with control pickup is always appreciated. It’s also a great way to improve your orienteering skills as you learn.

Ian and Paul.

This was a terrific weekend. It went from summer through fall into winter. Friday was HOT. One person came back with heat stress. Then it poured Friday night for a cool drizzly Saturday morning clearing up in the afternoon, and a cold Sunday. We built a fire in the fire pit and stood around for […]

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We will have an OPEN event at Schenck Forest on Sunday, October 25^th, 2026.

Register HERE before Friday, October 23^rd, at 6:00 PM. Registration is now closed.

Updated 10/24/2026:

Directions and parking:

Directions from I-40: Take Edward Mills Exit and head north on Edward Mills Rd. Turn left on Reedy Creek Rd and another left on State Farm Rd. Park on State Farm Rd outside the entrance at 35.816203, -78.720469 and walk down the gravel road to the shelter. Follow BOK signs from State Farm Rd.

Sunday is the last day of NC State fair, so expect heavier than usual traffic. Fair goers use State Farm Rd to get to the Fair Park-and-ride. Today (Saturday), driving and parking along State Farm Rd at 9:30 AM was easy as there was no traffic. When we left at 11:30 AM there was a slow moving line of cars along State Farm Rd, but most parking spaces along State Farm Rd were still open. Give your self some extra time on Sunday, and be patient. Consider arriving on the early side if you can.

Starts will be from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM, and everybody must finish by 2:00 PM, when we will begin control pickup. Check-in and map pickup will be at the shelter. Help with control pickup is always appreciated.

We will have all regular courses from beginner to expert, White through Red.

• White 1.4km 8 controls           scale 1:5,000
• Yellow 2.4km 9 controls         scale 1:7,500
• Orange 3.6km 9 controls        scale 1: 10,000
• Brown 3.5km 11 controls        scale 1:7,500
• Green 5.6km 14 controls         scale 1:10,000
• Red 7.0km 17 controls            scale 1:10,000

Course notes: runners on orange, brown, green and red will be crossing a wide creek. It is possible to cross without getting your feet wet, but you may consider bringing a change of dry socks and shoes.

If you are new to orienteering, we recommend checking out these short videos to prepare for the event.

• An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24) This video includes the information in the following two videos:
• An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
• An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)

Results and courses will also be posted to LiveLox. You can upload your routes from your watch manually, or download their app to your phone and have it record and post them for you.

There are porta-johns by the shelter.

Note that the park prohibits dogs, even on leashes.

Most of our region’s best adventure racers came out to Falls Lake to enjoy 8 hours of trekking, paddling, and biking. With a hurricane passing to our west, the weather was iffy and we learned the night before the race that the park would be closing the mountain bike trails. Bikes could still be used […]

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