If you love the North Carolina mountains and don’t get there as often as you like, do yourself a favor and make a visit to Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area in Alamance County. Just over an hour from Raleigh and even less from Chapel Hill and Durham, Cane Creek has all of the rugged, rocky terrain and elevation you would expect deep in Pisgah National Forest located at our doorstep.

On Sunday, March 15 from 11 AM – 2 PM, BOK will have an open event offering 6 orienteering courses:
Beginner (White): 1.9k
Intermediate (Yellow): 2.7k
Advanced (Orange): 3.4k
Expert Short (Brown): 3.7k
Expert Medium (Green): 5.7k
Expert Long (Red): 6.4k

There is also a “Cane Creek Mountains Hiking Challenge” course available from now until 2 PM March 15. For this challenge, you receive a map and plot coordinates for a stage/checkpoint and then navigate with map and compass to this stage. Repeat for each successive stage and then return to the start/finish. There is a small red/orange pin punch hanging in plain sight at each of seven stages along this 4 to 5 mile loop. Taped to each punch are coordinates for the next stages in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction of travel. This course is inspired by and designed to be training for the Birkhead Hiking Challenge (BHC).

Participants in this challenge get to choose, or will be assigned their direction of travel. They also get to choose which type of map to use: one with a Degree Decimal Minute (DDM) grid, or one with a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid, both are 1:10,000 orienteering maps. The DDM is more difficult to use, but is the best practice for BHC. The UTM is designed to be easier for those not as experienced, or interested in BHC.

Estimated time for completing the challenge loop is 2-3 hours, but there is no time limit other than to abide by park hours and be finished before the conclusion of the March 15 BOK event when stages get picked up. You can either register to do the challenge during the BOK event on Sunday March 15, alternately you can use this link to obtain a digital copy of the challenge maps and initial coordinates so you can print your own map and go when you please.

Registration is open until NOON on Friday, March 13.

Check-in and starts will be located at the Pine Hill Trailhead: 5075 Bass Mountain Rd, Snow Camp, NC 27349. (GPS location = 35.958089, -79.420903). Bathroom facilities and drinking water are available from the park near the start.

If you’re new to orienteering, be sure to prepare yourself by watching our introductory videos at the top of this page. If you have questions that aren’t answered in these videos, we will have a friendly BOK member available near registration at 11:30 to answer questions.

It was good to see so many orienteers come out for a middle distance event at Schenck Forest. BOK hasn’t had many real middle distance events and while Schenck may be a challenge for full size courses, it turns out it provides a marvelous venue for a middle distance event. Many of the runners expressed […]

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Advanced orienteers are welcome to join us for classic orienteering courses at Falls Lake State Recreation Area on Sunday, March 8th. Start on the Orange (3.5), Brown (4.2 km), Green (5.3 km) or red (7.6 km) course any time between 10:30 AM and 1:00 PM (Note:- times might change slightly in the final registration details. This is the day the clocks go forward). Control pickup will start no later than 2:30.

Joseph Huberman will also set an 80m Classic Radio-O course using our new SignalSlinger transmitters. Joseph writes: Since last week I updated the software and ran several successful tests, so I am expecting the foxes to start and run like they should. (Actually I expected that last week, but didn’t test so thoroughly.)

• Foxes at 3.53 MHz, Beacon 3.60 MHz
• All foxes – 4.7Km
• 1, 2, 4, 5 – 3.2Km (Skip 3)
• 1, 4, 5 – 2.3Km (Skip 2 & 3)

Park near the west corner of the large parking lot for the Hwy-50 boat launch (GPS = 36.021518, -78.692192). Restrooms are available in the car park. Get your map before carefully crossing Highway-50, and starting your course on Woodpecker Ridge, a little-used area of the park, just south of Sandling Beach.

Please note that the map of this area has not been systematically field-checked but additional mapping has been undertaken in the flatter southern half of the map compared to last year’s map, and some additional work has also been undertaken in the northern area, used by the expert courses.

Whilst we hope to have identified nearly all the significant features in the southern half of the map, coverage in the northern half is more patchy and we have concentrated map additions near control sites and those that help route choice. Many of the re-entrants in the northern half have complex erosion gullies in them, often very deep with steep sides. Based on IOF advice we have tried to split the erosion gullies into 2 types:-

Erosion gully >1m deep on average and an obstacle to crossing – Standard erosion gully symbol

Deep Erosion Gully – >1.5m on average, deep AND a significant obstacle to crossing. These are identified by a Solid Black Line (IOF symbol – 201 – Impassable cliff) on one or both sides of the gully. Note these ‘uncrossable Banks’ are all earth banks/cliffs that will require time and effort to climb safely and may be dangerous to descend especially when wet.

BOK is hosting an Advanced middle distance event on March 1st at NC State’s Schenck Forest. Park on the road outside the entrance at 35.816203, -78.720469 and walk down the gravel drive to the shelter. Starts will be from 10:30am to 1pm with control pickup starting at 2pm.

Director’s update: Because of the short distances and comparatively flat courses, we will print out some extra reversed courses. If you finish and would like to try a second course, and time permits, you may run a course in the reverse direction. Of course, for those with extra energy at the end, help with control pickup is always appreciated and a great way to practice more orienteering.

Registration has closed.

This event offers an Orange course for advanced orienteers and three expert courses; Brown, Green, and Red. A middle distance event is shorter than normal and therefore faster, but hopefully also a bit more navigationally challenging. Brown maps will be at 1:7500 scale. All other 1:10000. Course length are as follows:

• Orange 3.5km
• Brown 3.4km
• Green 4.7km
• Red 6.2km

We will also have an advanced Explorer course. An Explorer course is the chance to find any controls you want. There is no set course, but there is a 2.5 hour time limit. There are no beginner-level controls, so only those ready to move up to orange, but maybe not quite ready to do a full orange course, should opt for the Explorer course.

Results and courses will also be posted to LiveLox. You can upload your routes from your watch by hand, but you can also download their app to your phone and have it record and post for you.

Last summer, Tropical Storm Chantal dropped a lot of water that ultimately influenced the event over the weekend. Not being able to cross the river, the course design was left with limited options. However, this drove us to areas of the park not normally seen when we visit Eno River and it seemed that most […]

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