All the FAQs

What is Orienteering? What about COVID-19? When are the events? How much does it cost? What should I bring? What if it rains? What types of events are there? What are the rules for orienteering? What do all the orienteering symbols mean? What is an A-meet? What courses and competitive classes are offered? What are Sprint, Middle, and Long courses? How do I use electronic punching (E-Punch)? What is E-punching, and how do I read the splits? What are the hazards? What is Lyme Disease? But I was taught to always stay on the trail... What do the abbreviations found in results mean? Where can I get equipment?

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What Do All The Orienteering Symbols Mean?

There are many graphic symbols used in orienteering​—​on the maps and for the control descriptions. Links are provided below to files that you can download and study or print.

Map Symbols

There are two basic international specifications for orienteering maps​—​for Sprint maps and for non-Sprint maps.

The International Specification for Orienteering Maps (ISOM 2017-2 [1MB PDF]) defines the standard for non-Sprint maps, including 24 pages of definitions of map symbols. A one-page presentation of the map symbols is available here (525KB PDF).

The International Specification for Sprint Orienteering Maps (ISSprOM 2019-2 [1MB PDF]) defines the standard for Sprint maps, including 20 pages of definitions of map symbols. A one-page presentation of the Sprint map symbols is available here (525KB PDF).

Control Descriptions

At BAOC events, the controls for beginner (White and Yellow) courses are usually described with words (e.g., "Path junction, north side"), but the controls for intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown, Green, Red, and Blue) courses are always described with international symbols. (See here for an explanation of the various "color" courses.) This file (51KB PDF) contains several example control description sheets in both styles, which is useful for understanding the symbols used for intermediate and advanced courses.

The International Specification for Control Descriptions (2018, updated March 6, 2019 [3.1MB PDF]) describes the format of the control-description sheet and all the symbols used on those sheets. A particularly nice feature of the Specification is a map snippet and graphical presentation of the terrain for many control descriptions (it starts on page 18).