Patapsco CCBC & Intro to O

To register for a classic White through Blue course, click here --> CLASSIC REGISTRATION

First-Timers: register for the free Introduction to Orienteering course by clicking here--> FIRST-TIME REGISTRATION

Who's Registered? Classic course registrants are listed here, and Intro to O' registrants are listed here.

Course Notes for Intro-to-O and White and Yellow Courses
White and Yellow courses use the standard orienteering map for Patapsco Valley State Park (Hilton area). It is early in our Orienteering season, so the park is greener than mapped. Some indistinct trails may have disappeared, and some new trails may have been forged (especially close to campus). Watch out for mountain bikers who frequently use the trails.
The park has areas of wavyleaf basket grass, an invasive plant, that is currently in seed at this time of the year. It has small sticky seeds that easily attach to shoes and clothes. Courses have been set to avoid most of it, but there is some alongside the trails. Check your shoes and clothing after finishing your course (especially if you go off-trail). Seeds should be removed and thrown in the trash to prevent spreading the plant to other areas.

Course Notes for Sprint-O-Palooza
Many thanks to Ted Good who did the fieldwork and drafted the campus map to ISSprOM standard!
The Orange through Blue courses are normal sprint courses; make sure to check codes since some controls are quite close to others. To make the courses more interesting the circle road is marked out of bounds. This means that runners must not cross it anywhere other than at one of the designated crossing points (there are 4, shown with a special symbol); these crossings are either crosswalks or speedbumps. Runners may run alongside the road (on grass or paths), and, runners may also cross the northeast portion of the circle road that is not shown as out of bounds.
Given the urban nature of the sprint courses, metal spikes will not be helpful and are likely to damage the venue. Consequently, metal spikes are prohibited on the course and inside all CCBC buildings.
N.B.: sprint course distances (and stats) as shown are the sum of the two courses, and are straight line distances. Due to having to go around out of bounds areas as well as buildings, actual distances will be significantly longer!
!!! Remember, It’s important !!! The circle road must not be crossed anywhere other than at designated places. Be careful of traffic, busses and cars on campus roads.

Sprint Map Notes:

• 1:4,000 2.5 meter contours.
• Roads use the darker brown color (heavy traffic). Parking lots and sidewalks use the lighter beige color (light traffic).
• Trees, large green circle, represent areas where you can run under the branches. The number of trees may not always be correct as some may have died/been cut down since mapped.
• Bush symbol, smaller green circle, is used for smaller trees and bushes where you can’t pass under the branches.
• In some cases, tree and bush symbols were used indiscriminately and were based on what would fit on the map. Large evergreens are mapped as “dark green fight.”
• Open area surrounds most tree areas as these can be run through at speed. A few ‘Open with Scattered trees’ are where there were too many trees to mapped individually.
• Large electrical boxes are mapped as minimum sized buildings.
• Bus stops use small building symbol.
• Stairs: Almost all stairs have crossable railings that aren't mapped. So don’t expect to be able to run across stairs, just up/down them. Stairs may be extended on map so there are at least two steps making them easier to see. There is no way to know if stairs go up or down until you get there. There are a few areas where stairs go both up and down which can be confusing.
• Walls/Cliffs: Hard to determine which “uncrossable lines” are walls and which are cliffs/drop- offs. Either way assume you can’t cross them. Where room existed on the map I used the “cliff tags” to help show up vs down, but in many cases the tags obscured features so couldn’t be used.
• Gardens (olive green): Generally, I didn't map gardens as out of bounds. Try not to run across any garden areas. Any olive green on the map may not be crossed.
• Multi-Level area: Several buildings have more than 2 levels that are runnable. Only two levels are mapped (generally the topmost and bottom most). Unusable entrances are either not on the map or have a purple line to show do not enter. Look for the line of triangles to show the lower level entrance/exit.
• Man Made Features: X symbol used for Flag poles, Stone bench memorial, and Cistern Cap (historical Feature).
• 2 meter root stocks at the time of mapping. Some may be smaller now over time. They are definitely removed if they get below a meter.
• Rock: All distinct rocks are mapped. If they are at least a meter in any direction they are the map. Smaller boulders are mapped around the Catonsville Community College.
• Forest Areas not mapped to sprint standards. These came from the Forest map and haven't been updated.
• Not Mapped: Dumpsters, street lights, fire hydrants, telephone lines/pole (except in wooded or open areas).