Patuxent River

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Special Notes:
These courses were used on December 7, 2024 for the regional NJROTC Orienteering Championship. Individual times from that meet will be posted near the download area if you are interested in comparing your times to the High Schoolers.

All controls will be on posts with the control bag hanging on it. These controls are NOT configured for SAIC AIR+; your fingerstick must be inserted in the control to be registered at all control points.

LIVELOX will be used at this event. Click on this link to find out more about LIVELOX, how to use it and how to link your Garmin, Polar, Suunto watch, or Strava account to the event so that you don’t need to carry a cell phone on the course. Use of LIVELOX is of course completely optional.

The map was updated in 2023 after major revisions to the park’s trail network. Vegetation is generally accurate EXCEPT in the Nike Fields which have filled in considerably and is significantly denser then mapped.
There has been evidence of beaver activity about 150 meters North of Riverside Field. No trails are affected (yet), but some route choices may be impacted. Just beware!
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 pace counting will be your best friends on these courses.

Course setter notes:
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.
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 airplane frames, 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 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!
This area was an Airfield in the 1930’s, a Nike anti-ballistic missile site in the 1950’s-60’s 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.