Orienteering sounds technical and quickly gets confusing to explain.
This page fixes that. It explains the basics: how the map works, how to use a compass, and how to move through the terrain without overthinking it.
You do not need to know all of this before starting. The best way to begin is to join a run and try it with a map in your hand.
An orienteering map is made for running through terrain.
It shows the things that help you make decisions while moving: roads, paths, water, forest, open land, buildings, fences, rocks, hills, and small terrain features.
You do not need to understand every symbol before your first run.
Have a look if you’re curious. Most of it makes more sense once you try it outside.
Course symbols show where the course starts, where the controls are, and where you finish.
Start
This is where your course begins. From here, you start navigating.
Control
This is a control. It is marked in the terrain at the center of the circle. Find each control in order: 1, 2, 3, etc. The lines show what comes next, but you do not need to follow them.
Finish
This is where the course ends.
Colors tell you the type of terrain and running speed.
Open land
Fast and easy to run through.
Open forest
Forest you can usually move through well.
Dense forest
Slower to move through. Often better to go around.
Water
Lakes, ponds, streams, ditches, or wet areas.
Open land with scattered trees/bushes
Mostly open, but with trees or bushes in the terrain.
Cultivated land
Fields or planted areas. Do not enter.
Forbidden area
Typically private land. Do not enter.
There are many symbols, but these are already more than enough to get started.
You will learn to recognize these in the terrain.
Road
Dirt road
Paved area
Path
Stream
Passable fence
Building
Uncrossable water
Knoll
Pit, small depression
Prominent man-made features
Contour lines
Railway
Wall
Major/small powerline
Small tower
Cliff
Ruin
Small/large marsh
Boulder
Boulder field
There are many orienteering symbols. You do not need to know them all to start. The basics above include illustrations based on material from Svensk Orientering.
Contour lines show height differences in the terrain. They show where the land is high or low. Close lines mean steep. Lines farther apart mean gentle. They can be tricky at first, but they become easier once you are in the terrain.
Imagine a mountain made of stacked pancakes. Each line is the shape of one pancake level.
A compass sounds more complex than it is.
You use it to line up the map and move in the right direction when you leave a path, cross open land, or run through the forest.
The basic idea is simple: choose where you want to go, line up the compass, then move in that direction.
1. Set your direction
Place the compass edge from where you are to where you want to go.
2. Rotate your body
Turn the map and your body until the compass needle is parallel with the north lines.
3. Move that way
Run in the direction of the compass edge. Check now and then that the needle stays parallel.
Between controls, you choose your own route.
Sometimes straight is fastest. Sometimes a longer route on a path is better. A route can look short on the map but still be slow if it goes through thick forest, over a hill, or through unclear terrain.
That is the idea. Choose a route that is fast, clear, and easy to execute.
Now the best way to understand it is to try it with a map in your hand.
