Rosaryville

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Registration will open at 6pm on Monday April 29 and close at 12 noon on Saturday May 4 (the day before the event). Pre-registration is mandatory.

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Map/terrain notes:
Rosaryville State Park has a long and illustrious history, hosting George Washington and other famous colonials. The Mt. Airy Mansion—originally built in 1751 and rebuilt after a fire in 1932—sits at the center of the former hunting grounds, which have been used for many years for equestrian events. Horse jumps, marked with Xs, are all over the trails and fields near the mansion. The park is split by the powerline, with both sections featuring a large network of trails. The northern portion of the park includes typical QOC ridge and valley terrain. The park is expanding, and we’re using some not-yet- fieldchecked terrain across the Charles Branch on the north side of the map.
The area near the parking/start/finish has several large fields. The rest of the park is wooded, except for the mansion area, with vegetation thickness varying greatly. Enjoy the open white woods when you’re in them, as they do not predominate (but are delightful!). Light green is most common and is generally good running with reduced visibility. The darker greens are unpleasant to impassable. These areas tend to have a lot of thorns. I have set the courses to avoid the worst areas; if you find yourself in a big thorny area, either you’ve wandered off track or you’re taking a route I didn’t anticipate. There is usually a trail not far away, and they may be your best option. Because many of the trails were built by and for mountain bikers, they tend to be windy and narrow. If you come across a biker, please give way to them.
The area is moderately hilly, but, aside from the northern area along the stream, the hills are not steep or big. The climb is mostly spread out and you won’t notice it too much away from the stream.

Course notes:
Course map scales are likely to be 1:10K for Orange, Green, Red, Blue; and 1:7500 for White, Yellow, and Brown.
Three of the advanced courses cross Charles Branch into the unfieldchecked area. The contours are good, and what is on the map is accurate enough to navigate by. You will find that details and even distinct trails are missing. The controls in this area, therefore, are on bigger features than would ordinarily be used for advanced courses. If you are concerned about navigating in this area, consider running the Green course, which stays south of the creek.
All the courses have a lot of trails; check your compass and map to make sure you’re on the trail you want to be on! It can be easy to get on the wrong one. All courses except Green cross the main road at least once; please watch for park traffic before crossing.
There is no water on any course. Please bring your own water if you need it. If you do not finish your course, as always please report to the Finish and download so we know you are out of the woods. Courses close at 3 p.m.

Map Walk Opportunity:
At 11:15(ish), the course setter (me, Peggy D.) will offer a ~45-minute map walk. Although this will be aimed at orienteers looking to move up to Orange and the advanced courses, anyone is welcome to attend. There is no set maximum number of participants, but in reality there will be, since a larger crowd will be difficult to accommodate (probably once we get 20 or so people, we’ll have to turn away additional people). If there is interest, I may have a second map walk. Keep in mind that you will want to do your course after the map walk! I’ll try to have some maps, but you should plan on bringing your map with you; we will not be going in the areas where the courses go, and you are discouraged from looking at the course while we are on the map walk.
Note that the current forecast calls for rain on Sunday; if there is moderate or heavier rain, I reserve the right to cancel the map walk.