Orienteering is an adventure sport in which participants navigate across country, visiting a series of checkpoints, using only a map and compass to find their way. You can see some example map excerpts below. Typically, orienteering races happen in woodland or on moorland or heathland, but in recent years there has been increasing interest in urban orienteering, making use of intricate streets, alleyways and buildings as well as parks.
Orienteering is open to people of all ages and can be enjoyed at walking pace, a gentle jog or as fast as you can run – so long as you keep your brain clear enough to navigate as quickly!
If you’re new to orienteering, we have information in our “Get Started” pages to help you get to know what’s involved, and of course we will be happy to help you at one of our events.
This video featuring multiple British Champion Graham Gristwood gives a great overview, and provides an introduction to a series of videos covering basic techniques. We’ll link to some of them as well as other on-line resources in our other “Get Started” articles.
Graham describes some of the common map features in the video. Just knowing a few symbols and colours will get you a long way on most maps, but as you progress you will want to learn more. You can find complete printable guides at maprunner.co.uk