The scene is a familiar one at any campout: a Pathfinder holds a folded map, turns slowly with a compass in hand, and then bolts down a trail that only they seem to see. That is orienteering, a sport that began as military training in Scandinavia and today has its own federation, world championships, and a legion of fans who run while they think.
The good news for your Club is that you don't need a professional forest or expensive gear. A patch of woods, a park, the grounds around the church, or the campsite itself will do just fine. With a hand-drawn map, a few cardstock markers, and simple compasses, you can build a challenge that grabs the whole Unit's attention and advances requirements for the Orienteering honor along the way.
This guide walks you through the full path, from scouting the terrain to calculating the bearing between points, with special attention to safety and to low-cost versions that fit a real Club budget.
What orienteering is as a sport
In orienteering, each competitor receives a detailed map, a compass, and a sequence of control points to find across the terrain. The winner is whoever visits all the points in the correct order in the shortest time. The fun lies in the balance: run fast without reading the map and you get lost, read too carefully and you lose precious time. Legs and mind work together the whole way through.
On the ground, each control point is marked by a control marker: a triangular fabric prism with square faces measuring 30 by 30 centimeters, always with the top triangle white and the bottom one orange. That color combination was chosen because it stands out against the green of the brush and the brown of the soil. Beside the marker sits a punch, a small hole-puncher with a unique pattern of pins.
The competitor carries a control card and, upon reaching each marker, presses the punch onto the matching little box on the card. That hole proves they truly passed through. At the end of the race, the officials check the card: a missing hole means a missing point, and the run does not count as complete. It is a simple, mechanical, cheat-proof system that you can reproduce at the Club with few resources.
Choose and scout the area before drawing anything
It all starts with a good scouting walk. Cover the candidate area on foot, notebook in hand, jotting down the references the map will need to show: trail junctions, isolated trees, fences, posts, a fallen log, the edge of a stream. The more distinct reference points the terrain has, the richer the course becomes. A wide-open field with no landmarks makes for a dull challenge.
Set clear physical boundaries for the course area, meaning the permitted zone of the challenge. Streets, walls, fences, and watercourses work well as borders because a Pathfinder immediately understands they should stop there. Make those limits explicit in the briefing and on the map. No marker may sit near a real hazard: a steep bank, deep water, a busy road, or terrain with a risk of falling stays out, always.
For a Unit aged 10 to 15, an area with a radius of 200 to 500 meters already produces a full and challenging course without turning into a marathon. During your scouting, mark where the start, the finish, and one or two adult-staffed support points will be. If the site is a public park, check usage rules and hours before scheduling.
Draw or adapt the course map
The map is the heart of the challenge, and it does not need to be a cartographic masterpiece. You have three routes: adapt a printed satellite image (Google Earth), start from an existing park map, or draw your own by hand from your scouting. What matters is that the map faithfully shows the references the Pathfinder will use to locate themselves.
Every orienteering map needs three fixed pieces of information: the arrow pointing north, the scale, and a legend of symbols. A scale around 1:10,000 (each centimeter on paper equals 100 meters on the ground) is comfortable for Club challenges. Standardize the symbols and teach them before the start. Here is an example of a simple legend:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Triangle | Start |
| Circle | Control point (marker) |
| Double circle | Finish |
| Dashed line | Trail |
| Blue line | Watercourse |
Draw the parallel north-south lines onto the map as well, because those are what the Pathfinder will use to align the compass. Print one copy per participant or per pair and protect each sheet inside a clear plastic bag, since wet brush and sweaty hands destroy ordinary paper in minutes.
Place the points, calculate bearing and distance
Number the control points in the order they should be visited and draw a circle around each one on the map. The exact center of the circle is where the marker sits on the terrain. For each point, write a short, precise description: "trail junction," "base of the isolated tree," "northeast corner of the fence." That description keeps the Pathfinder from mistaking a similar marker in the wrong place.
Build the difficulty progressively. For beginners, keep the markers visible from a distance and close to obvious trails. For the more advanced, hide them a bit and increase the distance between them, forcing careful map reading. A balanced course mixes short, easy legs with one or two long legs that call for a route decision.
The bearing is the angle, from 0 to 360 degrees, that points the direction from one marker to the next. To find it, rest the side of the compass along the line connecting point A to point B on the map, turn the housing (the degree dial) until its lines run parallel to the map's north, and read the number at the base of the direction arrow. On the terrain, the Pathfinder turns their own body until the red needle enters the "shed" of the housing, and then walks straight ahead. To estimate distance, teach them to count double paces (about 1.5 meters each) or to use the map's scale with a thumb.
Read alsoHow to set up a club honors fairStaggered start, time limit, and formats
Release the competitors at intervals of 1 to 2 minutes, one at a time or one pair at a time. That staggered start keeps a Pathfinder from simply following another instead of reading their own map. Note each person's departure time. Also set a time limit (60 minutes is a good ceiling for Club challenges): anyone who runs over the time returns to the meeting point even without finishing, for safety and organization.
The format defines the logic of the race. Choose according to the Unit's age and experience:
| Format | How it works |
|---|---|
| Classic (line) | Markers visited in a required order; the shortest time wins. |
| Score-O | Markers scattered with different values; a fixed time, grab as many as you can. |
| Night | At night, with a flashlight, reflective markers, and heavier compass reading. |
| By bearing | No obvious trails; you follow only the given direction and distance. |
Night orienteering makes for an unforgettable activity when you pair it with reading the sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Southern Cross points south: extend the long axis of the constellation about 4.5 times and drop an imaginary line to the horizon to find the cardinal point. Rehearse this beforehand with the Unit on a clear night, a great hook for observing the night sky with purpose.
Safety on the course is non-negotiable
Before any contest, make the course area well defined and communicate the boundaries out loud and on the map. Every participant heads out with a whistle around their neck. Agree on the universal distress signal: six short whistle blasts, with a pause, repeated. Anyone who gets lost or hurt stops where they are, whistles, and waits, rather than running blindly and making things worse.
Beginners and younger Pathfinders walk in pairs, never alone. Do a head count at the start and check again at the finish, matching it against the departure list. Position counselors or parents at key points along the course, especially near the boundaries and any stretch that demands extra care.
Take care of the basics that tend to be forgotten: water, sunscreen, closed shoes, and a firm end time. Keep a first-aid kit at the meeting point and have the access route for your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192) already mapped out. This is an awareness and preparedness activity; it does not replace a first-aid course or professional care in a real emergency.
Officiating, awards, and the low-cost version
Officiating closes out the challenge. Collect the control cards at the finish and check hole by hole, in the right sequence. In the classic format, anyone who skipped a marker or changed the order is disqualified or penalized with time; in score-O, add up the values of the captured markers and subtract penalties for running past the time limit. Announce the criteria before the start so there is no argument afterward.
For awards, separate categories by class or age group so the younger ones compete among themselves. Simple medals, a printed certificate, or the right to choose the Unit's next game already count as recognition. The goal is to celebrate those who took a chance and learned along the course.
The low-cost setup is entirely doable. Homemade markers come from white and orange cardstock glued to a PET bottle, a laminated cardboard sign, or a bag hung from a branch. In place of the professional punch, write a secret code word on each marker (or use a stamp, or a different colored chalk per point): the Pathfinder writes the word on their card as proof of passage. The map is printed on ordinary paper inside a zip bag.
This whole experience speaks directly to the Orienteering honor (also called Map and Compass), which asks, among other requirements, that you complete a field course with at least ten control points and demonstrate how to take and follow a magnetic bearing. A well-built race covers the practical part in one go. For the support points and the start structure, lashing techniques and pioneering help raise a gateway or a results board with bamboo and rope.
There is also a lesson in purpose here. Orienteering teaches something a Pathfinder carries for life: stop, read the map, and choose the direction before running off. The psalmist asked exactly this of God: "Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths" (Psalm 25:4, NIV). On the terrain and in faith, knowing where to go changes everything.