Wheaton

Long-time QOC members have great familiarity navigating Wheaton Regional Park, a close to the Capital Beltway urban oasis. Even for them, there are still some surprises to be experienced, as in 2017 when courses had been set along a major paved trail which the park closed the day before the event. For that reason, and for changes that just the plain passage of time brings, a major update has been applied to the map. This is the third major update for the Wheaton Regional Park map in about 15 years. The main changes include trail updates, vegetation updates, new LiDAR-based contours, stream course corrections, rootstock updates, and new point features.

Having a new map, and new features to go to, make this event a perfect time to really test one’s navigation skill. To provide that opportunity, all advanced course maps (Beige, Brown, Green, Red, Blue) will use maps without trails! Advanced course runners won’t have the easy trail bend and trail intersection attack points. Gone will be the easy trail catching features. One will really need to read one’s way across the terrain relying on whatever else remains—contours, streams, point features, vegetation changes, etc... One can still run on the trails. However, if you don’t read along to see where it’s going, that’s taking a risk. A trail may be going in the right direction initially but it may later bend; one has to know when to leave it. Additionally, a shaky memory of the trails and the expected proximity to a mapped control may cause one to end up someplace else. If one has to relocate, places to relocate could be far away. For any who feel this is going to be really hard, please select your course carefully—you may want to drop down in distance. A Beige course (on a map without trails) has been added for that convenience.

Please note also, that some parts of the map have changed more than others. The changed parts have been updated more than others but it’s still very likely there will be things in the terrain that are not on the map.

Orange, Yellow and White courses will have normal maps showing trails and all other features. Both the White and Yellow courses have more than one control that’s off trail in an open field area. For Yellow, there is one leg in which the most efficient route is off trail following along a stream.

There are many controls in close proximity—be sure to check control codes to ensure punching the one for the selected course. In one area for advanced courses, legs on the same course criss-cross tightly to maximize open terrain, but care is needed to follow the correct leg.