NEOC Update 5/19/23

Wow! What a great Spring Orienteering Season! Between the spring Scout-O, training events, the park-O series, the Billygoat camping weekend, standard in-person and BYOM events, and events from nearby clubs, it has been a great time to get out into the woods.

A big thanks to all who have helped make these events happen! AND, it is fantastic to see both new and familiar faces in the mix.

If you can lend a hand at the upcoming May and June events, your help is always appreciated. You can sign up on the event volunteer sheet, reach out to an event director via e-mail, or send an e-mail to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your interest.

• May 21 - Mary Cummings Park (Burlington, MA): Check out this compact-but-fun forest. White, yellow, orange, brown, and green courses will be offered. Volunteer slots are still open. Sign up to help out here. Don't worry if you haven't volunteered before, we are happy to train new volunteers at this event.
• May 25 - Menotomy Rocks (Arlington, MA): This will be the sixth event in the Spring Park-O Thursday Series (SPOTS). We are now hitting between 50 - 65 participants at each event. Registration is required to reserve your map. Series runs Apr 20 - Jun 8th. You can join one or all of the events. Starts at 6:00 pm Results from Jamaica Pond and the series are here.
  • June 1: Historic Beaver Brook - Belmont/Waltham
  • June 8: Pine Banks - Malden
• May 28 - Forest Park (Springfield, MA): This area is a great venue for park orienteering. The courses are all intermediate level, but there is plenty of route choice to challenge advanced orienteers. The map had recently been updated and is now lidar-based. Be prepared for some climbs into and out of reentrants!
• June 18 - DCR Houghton's Pond: Mark the DATE - More info to come!!!

Additional Local O- Happenings

• Saturday, May 20 - Nottingcook Forest (Bow, NH): Our neighbor club, UNO (Up North Orienteers) in New Hampshire is hosting an event "just up the street" on Saturday. Starts from 10:00-12:30. White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, and Red courses will be offered.
• Wednesday, June 7 - Family Navigation Game (Cambridge, MA) with Navigation Games - for intermediate and advanced orienteers, we will have a one-person relay (run the same advanced courses used earlier in the day for the Cambridge Middle School champs!). Children are welcome to try our Animal Orienteering. Beginners are encouraged to form teams and explore Danehy Park, finding checkpoints. Optional training available before the event. Course designer and event director: Ethan Childs.