Orienteering Course

Welcome to the Cranberry Township North Boundary Park Orienteering Course

What is Orienteering? Orienteering originated in Scandinavia nearly 100 years ago as a training tool to teach soldiers how to navigate through the forest. Today it is a sport and recreational activity in which the object is to locate marked features (controls) in the woods using only a map and a compass. In competition, the goal is to find the controls, in sequence, as fast as possible using any route between controls.

Orienteering is a sport for every person, regardless of athletic ability or age; it may be done individually or in groups. Orienteering provides both a mental challenge (determining the route and reading the map) and a physical challenge (actually getting to the controls); it is known as “The Thinking Sport.”

Instructions: First, familiarize yourself with the map. Look at the legend and note how various features are depicted. Hold the map in front of you and rotate it until it is “oriented” to the terrain, the magnetic north lines help if you have a compass. There should be enough detail on the map that a compass is not needed for the Beginner Course. Then, look for the Start (marked by a GOLD or BLUE triangle) and Finish of the course. The GOLD course starts at the Penn Power Shelter near the Disc Golf Learning Course (North West Shelter) and continues in a Clockwise direction. The BLUE Course starts near the Veterans Memorial Shelter (South West Shelter) and continues in a Counter-Clockwise direction.

Each course starts and finishes at the same location and is a sequence of numbered markers indicated on the course with stones and steel plaques with a unique letter at each marked location for both the Gold and Blue Courses and should be completed in sequence. The control descriptions tell you what features are at the centers of the circles where control stands are located. A compass is recommended, however not required. The next two pages provide maps required to complete each course.

For example, consider the market on the GOLD course designated with a control triangle #9 with a clue sheet: “9. High Tension Tower” On the map the GOLD Triangle marked with a BLUE 04 and GOLD 9 as shown in the figure to the right. Each control marker has a plate with TWO letters directly above each number triangle, one for each course (BLUE and GOLD). The letters correspond the unique control number (here #04 and #9) and a control code (a single letter for each course) on it. When you find a control marker, make sure the control number is correct; then write the letter code of that control in the box of the code card that corresponds to the control number for the BLUE or GOLD course. In this example, the Blue 04 has a letter “A”, therefore using the Blue Course Answer Key, place an “A” in the box that corresponds to block 04. Completion of the course with the correct codes in the Answer Sheet will provide a commonly used Scout phrase (The answer key sample below is only an example, and does not represent the real values on the course.)

This permanent orienteering course was created by Christian Mankevich from Troop 404, Cranberry Township as his Eagle scout project in the fall of 2025 and completes his Seneca Valley High School Senior Capstone Project. Special Thanks to Cranberry Township (Kyle Kenia, Doug, Mr. Manipole and others) in enabling this project to success.