Kings Landing

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Registration opens at 6pm on Monday Feb. 26 and closes at 12 noon on Saturday March 2 (the day before the event). Pre-registration is mandatory.

Who's Registered? Check by clicking here.

Contour Intervals are 5 meters (16.7 feet); the map was updated in 2023 and is accurate.

LIVELOX will be used for this event on all courses. See the instructions on how to use this live GPS tracking by clicking here. It is especially recommended for use for runners on Brown, Green, Red and Blue courses in the NRMA as there is very limited vehicle access in that park and most areas are very remote. Click this link to register. (Yes, RouteGadget will also be available.)

Note on moving up a course: The White, Yellow short, Yellow Long, Orange and Beige courses are normal level of difficulty and it would be fine to move up to a harder course. But this is probably NOT a good event to try Brown or above for the first time. The advanced course legs within the NRMA will demand careful route choices and strong map reading skills, dealing with unmanaged park terrain, an almost total lack of trails, and may be a tad bit more physically challenging.

Kings Landing (all courses): The original 260 acre Kings Landing Park map was merged with the newly mapped (2022) 960 acre Huntingtown Natural Resources Management Area (NRMA) which borders to the north to make 1220 acres of orienteering terrain. This is the second QOC event to be held utilizing the NRMA with many map refinements made over the last year. Only Brown and above courses will venture into the wilderness of the NRMA. Those running the Brown and above courses will enjoy a beautiful 15 minute shuttle bus ride to the remote start. White, Yellow Short, Yellow Long, Orange and Beige courses will start near the registration area. The finish for all courses will be the same and will be near the registration. There WILL NOT be a clothing drop off at the remote start, so only bring what you plan on carrying on the course to the remote start.

There is one paved road that bisects the Kings Landing Park. It is the entrance road and expect cars on this road. Runners should use caution crossing this road. The woods and fields are open and very runnable and visibility is excellent in both the park and NRMA. Don’t let the easy runnability lull you into a false sense of security. This park has some of the steepest terrain in QOC’s inventory. It looks benign on the drive in, but what you don’t see will give you burning thighs. Parallel errors have been known to happen in this park.

The terrain is classic ridge and valley, with broad, flat ridges, lots of deeply incised spurs and reentrants and large marshes. The slopes are steep and can be as many as four to five contours high. These steep slopes may be slippery if it is or has been raining or snowing. Spiked shoes and gaiters are recommended.

Some aggressive orienteers may decide to take a shortcut through a marshy area to save a few minutes. Sometimes the gamble will pay off, and sometimes it will backfire. Your choice! Be advised that if an area is mapped as uncrossable marsh (bold solid blue lines), you should consider it uncrossable (because it is!). Dashed blue lines or light solid blue mapped marsh may (or may not) be crossable. You should proceed at your own risk, but it may provide the fastest and shortest route to the next control. Your choice! Marshy areas and reentrants may be bone-dry or boot-sucking mud depending on the amount of rain we get during the week prior to the meet. Please make sure to tighten your orienteering shoes or you might lose them in the mud if you opt for that route.

While Kings Landing Park is well-maintained with many manicured areas, the NRMA is just the opposite. With the exception of several cultivated fields which are leased to local farmers, the entire NRMA is an unmanaged, unimproved natural area in the process of being reclaimed by mother nature, with traces of civilization dating back to both colonial times and farming in the 1930’s-1960’s.

Unique items to the NRMA for Brown, Green, Red and Blue course runners only: All advanced courses (Brown and above) will cross the Cocktown Creek while transiting from the remote start in the NRMA to the Finish in Kings Landing Park. There are no bridges or easy fording points across the creek. Depending on how much precipitation we get, the creek can range from a couple of inches deep to a couple of feet deep. Nominal width of the creek is 4-8 feet. Plan on getting your feet wet when you cross this creek. There is no way around the creek so find a crossing point you feel comfortable with, get your feet wet and carry on.

The mapped light green tends to be areas with saplings and closely spaced trees. There is minimal clingy/grabby vegetation except in cleared areas near the road. But dead fall can always be an issue in unmanaged areas like this. Most major areas of deadfall are mapped with vertical green lines, unless they are inside an already marked green area where marking them would just add to confusion. Individual minor deadfall is generally not mapped unless it blocks a narrow route. The darker green tends to be areas of mountain laurel (a woody, stiff evergreen bush) that you can generally get through, though it will be at a slow walk/crouch and you may have to zig and zag around the stiff branches.

Visibility is excellent throughout the park except in the mountain laurel thickets, which dominate in the central area of the NRMA. They are dense, slow to transverse, and can be disorienting. The vegetation boundaries should be used judiciously and with caution when navigating in the mountain laurel!

The rides in the NRMA are in the process of being reclaimed by mother nature. At least one of the mapped rides dates back to colonial Maryland. Some less discernable rides have been mapped as less distinct trails where appropriate. Some parts of the rides may appear more like wide, shallow erosion gullies but if you use your imagination, you can almost visualize the horse and wagon traffic transporting tobacco to market. Don’t expect to use the rides as a clear, quick running path as most are blocked intermittently with deadfall. One ride was cleared by hunters this winter so it may prove to be more runnable. All advanced courses will cross the one limited access paved road in the NRMA. It is virtually never used except by the rare park ranger visit or farmer. I expect no traffic on this limited access road and you should be fine to cross it or use it as your route choice dictates.

Within the NRMA, there is a large amount of broken ground, particularly along the sides of what once were roads. Only prominent knolls (4ft or higher) are mapped in these areas. In areas away from the broken ground, smaller knolls may be mapped. Otherwise the map would look like it had measles.

This map of the NRMA is a work in progress (and can only be field checked during the non-hunting season!) so any comments on improving the map are welcome.