Orienteering & Radio-O at Gray Owl April 3rd, 4th, 5th, 2026
Ruth and I would like to welcome you to our house adjacent to the Birkhead Wilderness Area in the Uwharrie National Forest for a weekend of Radio Orienteering and Classic Orienteering. Below is a registration button and details of the weekend plans.
Some of this information will change. Be sure to check back just before the event for the update.
When:
- Friday Noon – 10pm Apr. 3, 2026
- Night-O 8:30pm – 10pm
- Saturday 9am – 10pm Apr. 4, 2026
- Pizza Dinner Saturday at ~4:30
- Night-O 8:30pm – 10pm
- Sunday 9am – 2pm Apr. 5, 2026
- Control Pickup Sunday 2-4pm
- Any help is greatly appreciated. The orienteering controls are needed for the following week’s Umstead event.
Where:
- Asheboro, NC
- 1725 Gray Owl Road
- 35.6346680703153, -79.88024674672587
- Directions: There is a control on our mailbox at the intersection of Hopewell Friends and Gray Owl Road. Drive 1/4 mile on Gray Owl and take the first left turn onto our driveway. Drive 1/4 mile to the turnaround. Turn around and park only on the right side (east side) of the driveway as you are heading back out. Do not drive on the grass at all! Do not park in the turnaround!
Orienteering Courses
The expert courses have a 1km walk to the start and finish at the house.
- Explorer Beginner through Expert. Max 8k
- The start and finish are at the house
- The Explorer course consists of all the controls, beginner through expert. You take as many or as few of the controls as you like without a time limit. Just return before 4pm.
- Beginner controls are 50-59
- Orange 3k Advanced
- Brown 3.6k Expert
- Green 5.3k Expert
- Red 6.7k Expert
- Blue 8.9k Expert
- Night
- The Night course also includes all the controls, however there is a 1 hour time limit. You may start at or after 8:30 and must return by 10pm
- The start and finish are at the house
Since Radio-O isn’t much fun if you know where the foxes are, you should do any radio-O courses before any Orienteering courses.
The Birkhead Hiking Challenge
This is a separate event piggy backing on the Gray Owl Weekend. You can check in and out and share the Pizza dinner Saturday evening (if you are back in time). You will need to download and print the PDF from a separate store product. Details are in this article. You do not need to register for the Gray Owl Weekend unless you intend to do one of the other courses.
Radio-O Courses
(Tentative Schedule subject to change)
Classic 80m
- 9am-3pm Fri, Sat, Sun
- 80m foxes 3.53
- Beacon 3.60
- 1k walk to start, finish at the house
- Distances
- 5 foxes 4.7k
- 4 Foxes 3.4k
- 3 Foxes 2.5k
FoxO
- 9am-1pm Fri, Sat, Sun
- 1-2 – 3.55 MHz
- 3-5 – 3.57 MHz
- Beacon – 3.6 MHz
- Start and finish at the house
- Distances
- 9 foxes 5.4k
- 6 foxes 3.7k
Sprint
- 1pm-4pm Fri, Sat, Sun
- Slow 3.55
- Fast 3.57
- Beacon & Spectator 3.60
- Start and finish at the house
Classic 2m
- 9am-3pm Sat 5.5k
- 1k walk to the start, finish at the house (different start from 80m)
- Distances
- 5 foxes 5.7
- 4 foxes 4.1k
- 3 foxes 3.1k
LiveLox
- All the orienteering courses are in one event and the code is specific to your course.
- Each of the Radio-O courses is considered a separate event
- The radio-O LiveLox replay requires a password so you won’t accidently open them by mistake. You will get the code when you finish your radioO course.
Accomodations:
- RV & Tent Camping – Zooland (6min from Gray Owl) https://zoolandfc.com/
- Primitive Camping at Gray Owl
- Hotels & AirB&B in Asheboro, NC
Event Directors: Joseph and Ruth
Resources for Beginners
Check out these videos. The first one is our 15 minute class. Then there are two short ones, one introducing an orienteering map, and the other how to use a Thumb Compass – which we can loan you to try out on your course.
- An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24)
- An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
- An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)
Event Notes
Map Notes
There are lots of controls out there considering everything is on one map, so be sure to check the code on the control to be sure it is on your course.
Non Standard Symbols
The trees were mapped years ago, and are flat on the ground and mostly wouldn’t all be mapped at this time. So you should ignore big trees on the ground with branches still up in the air.
Note the upper bridge symbol where there isn’t any trail or bridge. This indicates an area that may be easier to cross especially during low water.
Note the lower bridge symbol around fallen trees. This indicates that you can cross on the trees if you are brave. Make sure the logs aren’t slippery before you cross in them.
Controls in the woods:
You are likely to see controls out there that aren’t yours. Here is what is out there
- 80m foxes have regular controls with a diagonal blue stripe hanging with an ORANGE ribbon 181-185 3.560 MHz
- 2m foxes have regular controls with a diagonal blue stripe hanging with a PINK ribbon 121-125 144.50 MHz
- Orienteering controls have a vertical blue stripe
- Sprint controls are striped poles with an SI-box on top. No flag.
- FoxO controls are a black pole with an SI-box on top. No flag.