Backwoods Orienteering Klub, founded November 15, 1978 sponsors events and teaches orienteering in the North Carolina piedmont, around Raleigh, NC.
We invite you to try orienteering with us. Everyone is welcome at all our events. We always offer beginning, intermediate, advanced and expert courses (routes through the woods) at every Regular event.
It was a great day to be in the woods and we indeed had very good turnout. All advanced courses (including Orange) went across the Crabtree Creek into rarely used part of the park, which added extra difficulty (as well as remote start/finish). And, of course, there was a forest fire. We were very fortunate […]
Read MoreOn Sunday, April 19, we will hold a special pairs event at Schenck Forest for orienteers at the ‘advanced’ or ‘expert’ level (i,e., able to complete an orange course on your own). You and your partner can start together any time between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM, but be sure to be done by 2:30 when control pickup will begin. Note that Schenck Forest does not allow dogs, even if leashed.
Orienteering is typically a solitary sport. Relay events are ostensibly team events; however, they still involve an individual making and executing navigation decisions on their own. Similarly, even when a group of people orienteer together, it’s rare for one person to explicitly take directions from another. As a result of the sport’s focus on individual navigation, orienteers tend to have little practice with communicating spatial information in real time. This event will exercise these skills, forcing competitors to communicate navigational information with each other. Here are the basic rules:
1. You must compete in a team of two. The team member in the field who punches controls will be called ‘the runner’. The other team member instructs the runner where to go and is called ‘the instructor’. (We will allow instructors who are not advanced orienteers to participate; however, all runners must be advanced orienteers.) Although you will be competing in pairs, each team member must register separately. If you do not have a partner, please go ahead and register! Indicate that you’re a solo in your registration, and you will be paired with another solo on or before meet day.
2. There are four loops to the course that must be done in order. The first loop is 1km, the second 2km, the third 3km, and the fourth 4km. For pairs who prefer to not do point-to-point courses, there will be an ‘Explorer’ option in which you and your partner can acquire any or all controls in any order you choose.
3. All maps will be at a scale of 1:7500. The runner’s map for loop one will not show any vegetation, control circles or leg lines. The runner’s map for loop two will only show contour lines and foot trails (N.B., no vehicle tracks or roads). The runner’s map for loop three will only show contour lines. The runner will not have a map for loop four. (The runner for the Explorer course will not have a map.) The runner may carry a compass.
4. The instructor will have a map with all symbols and control descriptions for each loop that they instruct, but is not allowed to leave the clearing around the shelter. The instructor may use a compass.
5. The runner and the instructor can communicate in real time via cell phone or walkie talkie (not provided). Only voice and/or text is allowed (e.g., no GPS tracking, LiveLox, etc.)
6. Teams may decide to stop any time after the second loop. Stopping earlier will result in an ‘mp’.
7. The runner and the instructor may switch roles at the end of any loop, but they are not required to. Teams doing the Explorer course may switch roles at most once. Notes about how to execute the role switch will be provided at the start.
Please note that this is a brand new format for us, and questions are likely to arise that are not answered by these rules. Please send notes for clarification to the event director (dw.orienteer@gmail.com). Here are some of the questions (and answers) that have come up so far:
Will the runner’s map show the start triangle?
No. The start shelter (with no triangle) will appear on the runner’s map for loop 1. For Loops 2-4, the instructor would need to describe the start location to the runner.
Will the runner’s map show meridian lines and/or out of bounds areas?
Yes. The runner’s maps for the first three loops will show meridian lines (spaced at 300m) and out of bounds areas.
Will the runner’s and the instructor’s maps be formatted the same on their pages.
Yes. Runner’s and instructor’s maps will be formatted identically. Thus, for example, if it’s helpful, the instructor could describe a feature as being, say, 1 cm west of the rightmost meridian on the page and the runner could apply this information to their map.
How will the transition work between loops?
When an instructor sees their partner coming in, they will give their map to the event director. As the runner comes into the transition area they can either punch finish to end the team’s race, or punch the transition control to continue with the next loop. If continuing with the next loop, the next runner (who can be the previos runner) will take the appropriate map from the clothesline labeled ‘Runner Maps’ and the next instructor will take the appropriate map from the line labeled ‘Instructor Maps’. Once either team member has his or her map, they cannot communicate face to face with their partner.
Will there be time for teammates to plan how to execute each loop.
Not really. Any face-to-face communication between teammates could happen only between loops and without a map. During this time, you would also be on the clock.
We will have an OPEN event at Umstead Park (South) on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Please be sure to register by Friday, April 10th, at 6pm.
Take the N Harrison Avenue exit to the park entrance. Go to the main parking lot at the end of the road and follow the BOK signs. Registration and starts will be in the large picnic shelter to the north of the parking area.
The event starts at 10.30 am and everybody must finish by 2.30 PM.
We will have all regular courses from beginner to expert, White through Red. Advanced courses will have remote start (behind the creek). Red and Green courses will also have a remote finish (about 200m from the shelter).
Course distances are:
White – 2.0 km
Yellow – 2.2 km
Orange – 3.5 km
Brown – 4.1 km
Green – 5.7 km
Red – 7.2 km
If you are new to orienteering, we recommend that you check out these short videos to prepare for the event.
An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24) This class video includes the information in the following two videos:
An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)
Register Here (Closed)
We will use Livelox so you can see your route on the map after the event along with everyone else on your course. This is great both because you can learn a lot about route choice, and fun to see how others’ choices affected their run. The easiest way to use Livelox is to download the Livelox app to your phone. Then, when you start open the app on your phone and click “Start Recording”. After the event, the event will be published on Livelox.com and you can select your “Class” which is the same as your course. Then you will be offered the event to choose so you can see your and everyone else’s routes. (You can also upload your route from your GPS watch.)
Help with control pick-up would be greatly appreciated.
Vladimir and Tatyana
Sunday was a beautiful spring day in North Carolina, and the rain a couple of days earlier meant there was less pollen to contend with. This park is slightly small for a 2-hour event, so for this event, we removed all of the trails and park roads, which significantly increased the navigation difficulty. In addition […]
Read MoreDouble-Up Score-O
Join us for a Score-O event at the New Hope Overlook section of Jordan Lake on Sunday March 29. In this event, your goal is to collect as many points as possible within the allotted time. There is no set route—you can visit the controls in any order you choose.
Registration is closed
Special Twist: “Double-Up” Controls
Some controls on the course will be designated as “double-up” controls, meaning their point values will double every 30 minutes. These will be denoted as “2x” on the control description.
| Elapsed Time (in Min) | Value |
| 0–29:59 | 1 point |
| 30–59:59 | 2 points |
| 60–89:89 | 4 points |
| 90–120 | 8 points |
Event Timing and Rules
Late Penalty
If you return after your 2-hour limit or after 2:00 PM, you will be penalized 3 points per minute, beginning immediately after the deadline.
Control pickup will begin promptly at 2:00, and help with pickup would be appreciated.
Registration will close at 9pm Friday, March 27.
There is no entrance fee required at the park.
