We will have an OPEN event at Umstead Park (North) on Saturday, December 14, 2024.

Take Glenwood Ave to 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 east of the parking area. (GPS = 35.871668, -78.759166)

The event starts at 11.30 am and everybody must finish by 2.30 PM.
We will have all regular courses from beginner to advanced, White through Red.

We will also have a beginners Q&A session starting at noon. 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)

Click the following button to go directly to the registration page (before 9pm on Friday, Jan 5).

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”. Then after the event, at 2:30, 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 or Strava.)

Help with control pick-up would be greatly appreciated.

Vladimir and Tatyana

Our 11^th annual December Score-O will be on Sunday December 8, starting from the north side of Umstead State Park. The “Score-O” format means that there is no predetermined route; instead, competitors decide which controls they want to visit, and in which order. This event will have 2-, and 4-hour options and is open to any orienteer or adventure racer who has successfully completed the equivalent of an advanced (orange, brown, green, red, or blue) orienteering course. All races will start from the small shelter at Umstead North (GPS =35.87205, -78.7597279). Note that this is not the larger shelter that we typically use.

There are a few differences between this year’s event and those of years past. In particular:

a. There will not be a mass start. Competitors may start any time between 9:00 AM and noon. However, everyone must be done with their course by 2:00 PM. This means that if you want to give yourself a full four hours on the course, you will need to start before 10:00 AM. Another implication of having individual starts is that there will not be a group briefing before the race. This means that it will be particularly important to read the posted course notes before starting your race.

b. Both the 4-hour and the 2-hour courses will be printed on one 11 x 17” page. We will provide a bag for this map. Map scale for the 4-hour event will be 1:15000; map scale for the 2-hour version will be 1:10000.

c. Map handout will begin no later than 8:30, and you will be allowed to study the map and plan your route for as long as you like before starting.

Please note that there are very few working water fountains on the course, so runners in the 4-hour race are encouraged to carry their own water supply or water treatment methods.

• When: Friday, December 6, 2024 6pm Pizza & 7-9pm Meeting
• Where: 904 Dorothea Drive, Raleigh
• OnLine: Google Meet – Register and you will get a link for the meeting

We are going to have our annual meeting as usual starting with a pizza dinner. After dinner we will start the meeting. The meeting will also be virtual on Google Meet. You will receve the meeting code on Thursday, but you need to register.

Everyone please register to attend the meeting both for in-person and via Google Meet.

Here is the link to the Agenda. You are welcome to comment on it.

Here is the link to our 2025 planning calendar. Current event directors should add events they want to run to the calendar others are welcome to comment on it. If you want to be an event director send an email to Info@BackwoodsOK.org and let us know so we can match you up to help with an event so you can learn the ropes.

A day after the Navy JROTC event started with chilly weather, it got even nicer for our latest event; foot O and 2m radio O practice at Raven Rock State Park near Lillington, NC. It’s always fun, too, to bring orienteering further out from the Triangle and a little closer to people who might not […]

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Updates: The brown course is 3.5km (it was previously marked as 3.1km). We have a busy weekend; please register by Friday at 5pm ET so there is time to print maps for everyone.

Sunday, November 24th, Backwoods Orienteering Klub will be hosting an Open event at Raven Rock State Park. We will also be offering a 2m radio orienteering practice. This is a beautiful park along the Cape Fear River and an opportunity to get out into one of our lesser-used venues.

Check in will be at the shelter near the small parking lot when you enter the parking lot; 35.462016, -78.911943. Courses will open at 11am. Everyone should be finished with their course by 2:30pm so we have time for control pickup before it starts getting dark.

Courses from White through Red are available. Course lengths are as follows:

White: 2.2km
Yellow: 2.8km
Orange: 3.7km
Brown: 3.5km
Green: 5.7km
Red: 7.4km

Beginners

If you are a beginner, choose the white course option and watch these videos to prepare yourself for what orienteering is all about. We also offer a Q&A for those who still want to know more after watching the videos.

• An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24)
• An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
• An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)

Radio Orienteering 2 meter Practice/Beginner Event

We will be holding a 2 meter practice/beginner event in addition to the standard orienteering courses. This event is intended for those new to 2 meter and for experienced 2 meter competitors who would like to better learn how 2 meter signals behave. The goal is to allow competitors to practice 2 meter in a relaxed environment without the pressure of the clock. See below for details:

• 3 constantly transmitting foxes on 3 different frequencies plus a beacon
  • Frequencies are TBD but will printed on the map
• Maps will be printed on letter size paper
• There will be two maps available: one without transmitter locations and one with transmitter locations.
• There will be no scheduled beginner class, but beginner instruction will be available.
• If you need to rent a 2 meter receiver make sure to select it on the registration page.