Patuxent River Park

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The map scales are:
1:10,000 for the Blue, Red, Green, Brown, and Orange Long courses
1:7,500 for the Beige, Orange Short, and Yellow courses
1:5,000 for the White Courses

Contour Interval: 5 meters (16.7 feet)

The map has been updated in 2023 after major revisions to the park’s trail network. Vegetation is generally accurate.
The courses were also used for the NJROTC Regional Championship held on Saturday, December 9th. Hence there is a wider variety than normal of courses for you to choose from.
There will NOT be drinking water available on any course. Bring your own water to drink while on your course (camelback is recommended), and make sure you do not leave any water bottles in the woods!
The compass and terrain-to-map matching skills will be your best friends on these courses.
Additional Note: There has been beaver activity southwest of Riverside Field (start/finish area). Though park rangers are trying to deal with them, there is currently a significant beaver pond about 300 meters south of the start area. No trails are affected (yet), but some route choices may be impacted.
Approximate location of the pond is mapped on the course maps, but beavers are clever creatures that build quickly so the mapped pond should be taken with a grain of salt. The pond and associated marsh area may be significantly bigger or smaller on the day of the meet. Just beware!
You may see some (maybe hundreds) of streamers in a cornucopia of colors in the woods. Usually, they mark invasive vegetation to be removed, and illegal bike and horse trails. Rest assured they have nothing to do with orienteering and should be ignored. If you find some bow hunting area signs in the far southwestern corner of the park, they can also be safely ignored as this weekend is a no hunting weekend.
You are allowed to run across any field drawn as a dark yellow area. You are NOT allowed to cross into private property, which is clearly shown on the map by a DASHED PURPLE LINE and CROSS-HATCHED PURPLE LINES. These areas are OUT-OF-BOUNDS and shall not be entered. There are many large rootstocks in the woods, but none are marked on the map, and none are used for controls. Do not rely on rootstocks for navigation.
The black “X” on the map and control clue indicates a man-made feature. Often these are remnants of the days 50-100 years ago when this area was an airfield and farms. Items such as a junked car, rusted appliances, stacks of tires, etc. would be marked with a Black “X”.
In general, the woods are fairly open. The light green tends to be areas with saplings and closely spaced trees, some deadfall, and some minor areas of thorns. The darker green tends to be areas of denser fallen trees, briars, or mountain laurel (a woody evergreen bush with stiff branches that is not hard to get through, though you may have to zig and zag around the stiff branches, so sometimes it is easier to go around them than to try to push through). The visibility even in the dark green is fairly good for the most part though it would be difficult to plow your way through mapped dark green areas.
The terrain is classic ridge and valley, with broad, flat ridges and deeply incised watercourses. Along the streams are many side reentrants. The hills here are not large, but they are steep and can be as many as four contours high. These steep slopes may be slippery if it is or has been raining or snowing. Marshy areas and reentrants may be bone dry or boot sucking mud depending on the amount of rain we get during the weeks prior to the meet.
All trails are clear and good condition, though all trails are covered with fallen leaves and can be more difficult to see this time of year, especially the indistinct trails. If there is recent heavy rain, many flat areas and trails may be wet, muddy and marshy. Please make sure to tighten your orienteering shoes or you might lose them in the mud. The park trails get a fair amount of horse, mountain bike and foot traffic, which churns up the trail. Several trails are marked as indistinct. If you are on an indistinct trail, you can follow it fairly well if you pay attention, but if you run across it, you may not notice it. You may also come across an unauthorized Mountain Bike Trail that isn’t mapped. Don’t trust that an unmapped trail goes where you think it goes. Several just end and go nowhere, leaving you stranded.
All advanced courses cross several small streams. Many are narrow enough to step across or at most jump across. Most are shallow and if you can’t jump them, you’ll get just your feet wet. But some may be better crossed by a trail or bridge. USE COMMON SENSE! Sometimes it is better to go a bit out of your way to cross a bridge.
This area was an Airfield in the 1930s, a Nike anti-ballistic missile site in the 1950s-60s and was farmed many years ago. You will likely see remnants of human activity and may actually see an old airplane—Riverside Field was an airfield for years and a few planes didn’t make it to the landing strip.
The British Army also marched through this area during the War of 1812 on their way to burn the White House. Enjoy, and may the forest be with you.