Arrow Valley

Visitor Centre

orienteering

at arrow valey

At Arrow Valley Visitor Centre we have 6 Orienteering courses to try

orienteering

discover arrow valley

Orienteering is a sport where you navigate your way around a series of checkpoints in the fastest time. The Arrow Valley Park Permanent Orienteering Course gives you the chance to try out orienteering by finding the special markers that are placed all around the park.

Whether you decide to walk or run, time yourself or do it just for fun, on your own or as a group…the choice is yours. Orienteering on shorter courses is a fun family-friendly activity. Longer and more difficult courses are a challenging adventure sport. Either way, you use the paths and landscape features to find your way around and explore some of the less visited parts of the park.

Free Activity FOR ALL

orienteering

Navigate checkpoints
Walk or run
Fun or competitive
Fun for all ages and abilities

more about orienteering

The Arrow Valley Course
There are six suggested Orienteering courses at Arrow Valley Visitors Centre.   Navigating between checkpoints you will find different letters that spell our a word. You have to solve the word by visiting all checkpoints on the course.

The courses all start at the west end of the Visitor Centre car park and finish back by the Visitor Centre itself.  Course information and maps are available from the Visitor Centre, or can be downloaded from https://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/poc/arrow_valley_country_park

How Difficult Are The Courses?
The Beginners courses can be completed entirely on paths and are suitable for families with young children, and complete beginners. Beginners 1 is 1.2km and takes approximately 25 minutes walking time to complete, whilst
Beginners 2 is 2.1km and takes approximately 40 minutes walking time to complete.

The Intermediate courses all require some off-path navigation. These are suitable for experienced juniors and novice adults. Intermediate 1 is 2.6km and takes approximately 50 minutes walking time to complete whilst Intermediate 2 is 3km and takes approximately 60 minutes walking time to complete and finally Intermediate 3 is 4.2km and takes approximately 85 minutes walking time to complete.

The Hard course is designed primarily for adults who have successfully completed the three Intermediate courses. It is 6.5km and takes approximately 2 hours walking time to complete.

Smartphone Enabled Orienteering
All of the suggested courses are available on the free ‘MapRun’ smartphone app. This allows you to time and record your run or walk.