Looking for somewhere new to explore this bank holiday?

Our new GO Orienteering website has a range of Orienteering helpful guides to inspire your next orienteering trip. Use the GO Orienteering tool to plan your new adventure and explore using different maps of Permanent and Virtual (GPS) Orienteering Courses and trails of existing routes here.

What is a Permanent Orienteering Course?

A Permanent Orienteering Course is a set of plaques often wooden posts or other features (typically 20-30 of them), spread around a park, together with a map showing where they all are. Your challenge is to discover these checkpoints, in forests, heathlands, parks and green spaces across the UK.

Each post or plaque is called a control, which has a code (usually letters) and a symbol on it. The control code is shown next to the circle on the map which matches the control on the ground; writing down (or recording) the matching symbol is proof you’ve been there.

Some Permanent Orienteering Courses also have QR codes on the markers and have also been set up as virtual courses, which used together with a downloadable app on a smartphone, can produce timings and course results which you can upload later.

Find out more about Permanent Orienteering Courses and Virtual (GPS) Orienteering Courses – and check out this helpful information on orienteering in the city, in the forest and countryside depending on your preferred destination.

www.goorienteering.org.uk