Orienteering is sometimes mistaken for a military and scout activity involving following a compass direction. Orienteering is far more than that. It is a competitive sport where quick thinking and decision making ae as important as running speed. But it is more than that. It is a recreational activity where people of all ages can get outdoors, get exercise and use their thinking/ decision making powers. It is a great fit with Parks programming

1. Are there places
for Orienteering
in your Parks and
Recreation
Programs?

2.  What is Orienteering?
 Why are people asking for Orienteering?
 Who wants Orienteering in parks?
 When can Orienteering fit in your program?
 Where can Orienteering be done?
 How can Orienteering be introduced to your program?

3. What is Orienteering?
• Like most activities orienteering can be done as a competitive sport or a recreational pastime.
• Finding your way using a map and sometimes a compass.
• Checkpoints, called controls, are placed in the terrain and marked on the map
• Participants uses the map to navigate to the points. They can punch a card, register an electronic punch or
even take a selfie to prove they’ve been to the point.
Is Orienteering like geo-caching? In a way it is. Both involve looking for objects but in orienteering it is the person,
not the box, doing the thinking and navigating.

4. Typical Orienteering Courses
Score Orienteering
Point to Point Orienteering
The challenge is in choosing a route from
one point to the next and then successfully
navigating that route. (in competition you do
it in as little time as possible.)

5. Why are people asking for Orienteering?
It is certainly different. It is simple. It is challenging yet safe.
Parents love it as it gives their children three important things:
 Getting outdoors for a while, away from their smart phones, television and
other gadgetry
 Getting exercise and
 Getting to think and make decisions for themselves.
Adults like orienteering for themselves for the same reasons

6. Who wants Orienteering in your parks?
 Families
 Scout groups where in Boy Scouts it is now an important badge requirement
 Homeschool groups
 JROTC teams for training and for competitions
 Tourists from other parts of the world who like orienteering, or are on the lookout for
an engaging activity while visiting the park
 City officials, who would like to see a healthy population and good use of taxpayer-
supported parks

7. When can Orienteering fit in your program?
• Permanent or semi-permanent course where small unobtrusive markers are placed in
the park and marked on the map. Maps are distributed to groups and/ or individuals
either online or at a kiosk. Participants can submit their proof of completion for a
certificate.
• Distribution can be for a fee or free. The difficult part for people wanting to add
orienteering as an activity is getting the map and setting out the course. A ready-made
orienteering course helps them meet the needs of their group.
• Orienteering is also fun when paired with another activity such as nature interpretation.
Say you have a number of significant sites that you would like to show your visitors but
they don’t fit in a convenient loop. Mark the sites on a map and have the visitors
navigate to them. They’ll love it and they will double their learning!
• As a day activity in a sports camp.
• As a more comprehensive sports program during school break, summer camps or once
per week. Some programs get snazzy names line Kids Running Wild, Adventure Running
Kids, etc.
• As a sport organized and conducted by an outside group arranging for a special event
use.
• Etc. etc.
Installing a ‘permanent’
orienteering marker

8. Where can Orienteering be done?
Orienteering often takes place in forested parks. Those parks with an
extensive trail network work best.
But orienteering works anywhere – college campuses, urban parks,
schools, business parks, shopping malls, even golf courses at night (or
closed golf courses any time)
For novice orienteers the ‘easier’ the park the better. Teaching someone
how to read a map is like teaching someone to read a book. We start
with large print and simple words. In orienteering it is large scale maps
with a reduced number of symbols.

9. How can Orienteering be introduced to your program?
• Find an orienteering club to help make orienteering maps of your parks.
• Use the club and/or online resources to plan an orienteering program that works for your park.
AND
• Find people who know orienteering to train your counsellors and leaders in orienteering. Put
orienteering in to your camp programs and let parents know it is there. AND
• Invite Orienteering clubs to come in to your parks and stage orienteering events there. They bring ‘their
people’ and at the same time hold introductory orienteering sessions for your base clients. AND
• Encourage orienteering folks to join your ‘Friends of the Park’ group. AND
• Introduce orienteering in to your already established programs such as Senior Games, Open Houses, 4th
of July, company picnics, team building programs, etc.

10. A few samples of school and
local park orienteering maps
in various parts of Florida

11. Joining park land and public pathways creates an interesting orienteering venue

12. Orienteering maps in state parks
The purple bars mark areas out of bounds for orienteers.

13. Thank you for your attention. We appreciate your
interest and look forward to opportunities to work with
you to bring orienteering to the residents of your
community.
www.facebook.com/SuncoastOrienteering/
www.floridaorienteering.org