Wissahickon Trails Offering Course On Orienteering, Outdoor Navigation Sport, In Mid-Oct.

AMBLER, PA — Nature enthusiasts who enjoy outdoor challenges may want to free themselves two weekends from now and plan to set aside some time to engage in the sport of orienteering.

Wissahickon Trails, an advocacy group in the Whitemarsh-Ambler-Whitpain region, is presenting an orienteering course on Oct. 16 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Orienteering is an outdoor sport in which participants use a map and compass to find various checkpoints along a mapped route.

The program, which is open to people of all ages and skill levels, will begin and end at Prophecy Creek Park, which is located at 205 W. Skippack Pike in Ambler. The park sits on the borders between Ambler Borough and Whitemarsh and Whitpain Townships.

The actual orienteering course will be set up throughout the nearby Brian Hill Preserve.

All tools necessary to complete the course will be provided and participants will receive around 30 minutes of instruction prior to beginning the program.

Participation is free but donations will also be accepted.

Orienteering is "easy to learn and a fun way to exercise your body and mind as you enjoy the outdoors," says the group Orienteering USA on its website.

Orienteering USA is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA. It says it is the national governing body of all orienteering activities in the United States. It was founded in the 1970s.

According to the group, the very first orienteering event was held in North America at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire back in 1941. It was organized by a Finnish Army officer.

The group said popularity soon caught on, and by the 1960s, the Delaware Valley Orienteering Club was formed and began hosting regular orienteering events.

Today, orienteering is an activity loved by experienced hikers, competitive runners just a "family or group out for an activity in a park," Orienteering USA states on its website.

"Orienteering can gradually build your map-reading skills from exploring a local city park full of obvious structures to navigating remote terrain with few, if any, man-made features," the group wrote.

The groups says that orienteering events are typically timed, giving it somewhat of a competitive aspect.

To learn more about orienteering, visit Orienteering USA's website.