What is a Permanent Orienteering Course?
A Permanent Orienteering Course is a set of plaques often on posts or other features in an area which represent a series of checkpoints to visit. There are pre-made orienteering courses varying in length and difficulty ready for you to try in these locations. Your challenge is to discover these checkpoints, in forests, heathlands, parks and green spaces across the UK.
Using the map, visit the numbered checkpoints set out on there. Each checkpoint will likely have a code or symbol on it. Writing down (or recording) the matching symbol is a great way to prove you’ve been there. In a orienteering event - this happens via an S.I timing card which electronically registers your visit!
Some basics to get started!
Triangle - start
Purple circles - checkpoints to visit
Orange - runnable / grass / parkland
White - trees you can move through
Green - trees/bush you cannot move through
Black lines - dashed (footpaths) / thick (larger paths/paved path)
Some Permanent Orienteering Courses also have QR codes on the markers and have also been set up as virtual courses, which used together with a downloadable free app such as Maprun on a smartphone, Garmin watch or a tablet, can produce timings and course results which can be instrantly seen.
How to use a Permanent Orienteering Course
On the back of every map, or provided separately, you will find suggested courses - lists of checkpoints to go to, in what order, and how far and difficult each course would be and you can either
- See how long it takes to visit every control
- See how many controls you can visit in a chosen time
- Improve your fitness with training exercises - start and visit a single checkpoint and come back, restart with a different one; or go out for two or three controls and come back (loops).
This video introduces how to use a Permanent Orienteering Course, and shows you some handy tips on getting started
Your time, your pace, your adventure
A Permanent Orienteering Course is the perfect way for getting active, enjoying the scenery and green spaces with your family, or a chance to get outdoors for a competitive time trial. The combination of physical and mental exercise often in stunning locations is like no other, as you can find, navigate and complete courses at any time, at your own pace.
You just need to download a map using our handy course finder to get you started!
If you enjoy Permanent Orienteering Courses, you may want to try a local club event, where electronic checkpoints are placed in individual, unique courses (from easy to hard), beginners are always welcome and you do not need to be a member of British Orienteering to attend– find out more about your local club and Orienteering events here.
Constantly improving our Permanent Orienteering Courses
Some of our courses are maintained by our extensive network of Orienteering clubs and volunteers, others by the council or organisation that owns the land. Please bear in mind that there is a chance that things like building works, fallen trees or vandalism may mean that a control is no longer where it was originally installed. If you can't find a control, it may be smothered in recent undergrowth, or it may have been stolen, or you might just be in the wrong place! Similarly maps change all the time - felling, planting, natural growth, brambles, and for example vegetation can be different at different times of year. So please do review our courses and feedback so we can keep course information as up to date as possible.