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.
Last summer, Tropical Storm Chantal dropped a lot of water that ultimately influenced the event over the weekend. Not being able to cross the river, the course design was left with limited options. However, this drove us to areas of the park not normally seen when we visit Eno River and it seemed that most […]
Read MoreDespite an overcast and bitterly cold day, we still had a solid 42 starts for our sprint event in Bond Park. Two sprint courses were offered, each with winning times of about 20 minutes. Competition was tough at the top, with Gheorghe Fala winning Sprint A by just 26 seconds and Matt Craig winning Sprint […]
Read MoreEveryone is welcome to our event at Eno River State Park on Sunday, February 15. Check-in at the new visitor center, immediately before you get to the loop parking lot at the end of Cole Mill Road. (GPS coordinates = 36.075509, -79.006595). We will set up at the picnic tables, under the shelter that is attached to the north side of the visitor center. Start any time between 10:00 AM and noon, but be sure to be off your course by 1:30, when control pickup will begin.
If you’re new to orienteering, be sure to prepare yourself by watching our introductory videos at the top of this page. If you have questions that aren’t answered in these videos, we will have a friendly BOK member available near registration at 11:00 to answer questions.
Expert courses will have a remote start and finish, both approximately 1km away from the registration area. You must return to the check-in area after completing your course.
Tentative course lengths:
Beginner (White): 2.0 km; Map scale = 1:5000
Intermediate (Yellow): 2.8 km; Map scale = 1:5000
Advanced (Orange): 3.5 km; Map scale = 1:7500
Expert Short (Brown): 3.7 km; Map scale = 1:7500
Expert Medium (Green): 5.5 km; Map scale = 1:10000
Expert Long (Red): 6.5 km; Map scale = 1:10000
Those of you who have paid for the event can be issued credit or refunds. You will receive an email explaining your choices. Those who had no charges will need to register again for the event on May 10.
Everyone is welcome at our first Open Event at Umstead Park on January 25, May 10, 2026. In addition to all the Orienteering courses there will be an 80m Classic course.
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.
Click the following button to go directly to the registration page.
Help with control pick-up would be greatly appreciated.
Vladimir and Tatyana
Here are the eagerly awaited results from our fun, challenging New Year’s Day extravaganza. There was a bit of everything: forest running, quick thinking, mazes, confusion and cookies. It turns out that the bumble format was quite a challenge and the mazes required different mental involvement and concentration than our normal orienteering talents provide. While […]
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