Event Location (live map)

Parking (and toilets)

Cars turning off the A2

Please note all competitors must park in the large linear car park north of the A2 road. Cars appoaching from Ballykelly will have a hatched-off area to safely turn right into the car park area. Orienteering access to the small forest car park is on foot only via the A2 underpass.

The Orienteering Car Park turn-in will be clearly signposted. Please take care as the A2 is a fast busy road.

Event Entries

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New 2026 BOF Insurance Rules

Please note: Participants who are not members of British Orienteering are not
covered by British Orienteering’s public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.

Event Enquiries 

These will operate from 10:30am. Having entered online you can go directly to the start. Runners who have hired a dipper can collect them from Enquiries/ Download.

Electronic Punching

SI dippers (not SI Air) are available for hire and can be booked in the entry system. 

Sportident Electronic punching with beacon mode enabled for SI Air on all controls but not on the start and finish boxes which must be “dipped” in the traditional manner.

Start Times

The pre-entry start blocks are from from 11.30am to 13.00pm.

We should also be able to provide starts from 11:00 to 11:30 on request for those who need to run earlier. Please use the contact form below for this or other queries. 

Start 

The start will be 700m away – please allow time for this. Parents please be aware the walk to the start is on a greenway path alongside the busy A2.

Finish 

The finish is adjacent to the car parking area. The Download point will be close by. All competitors must report to the Download even if they do not complete their courses. 

Courses Close 

Courses close at 3.00pm. Please ensure you have returned to download by this time to be checked in, even if you have not completed your course.

Entry Fees

	Member	Non-Member
Senior (aged 21 or over)	£12	£16
Junior or Student	£6	£8
Beginner Group*	£6	£8
Maximum charge for a family**	£30	£40

Member means you are a member of a BOF, IOA or IOF Orienteering Club.

*For beginner groups doing a course together, you only need to enter one name per map and SI Card. You can amend the “group name” at Registration on the day if you want.

**If you are entering family members in multiple classes and it comes to more than £25 (£30 for non-member) then please contact the organiser after you have paid for the individual Senior, or Junior/Student entries and we will arrange refund of the difference. Parents accompanying children go free.

Maps

A waterproof 1:5000 map of Ballykelly Forest (resurveyed February 2026) will be used by all courses.

Final Course Details

This will be a middle distance colour series event.

Course	Controls	Length	Climb
White	9	1.0 km	50m
Yellow	10	1.7 km	55m
Orange	13	2.0 km	55m
Light Green	13	2.3 km	80m
Short Green	14	2.5 km	85m
Green	18	3.0 km	110m
Blue	20	4.2 km	165m
Brown	22	5.1 km	180m

Brown and Blue course will be in two parts using both sides of the map.

For an explanation of the Orienteering Colour Coded courses system please see Colour Coded Courses

Planner’s Notes

Classic forest orienteering on a newly resurveyed map. Despite significant damage in recent storms the area has matured well and there are several new interesting areas to add fresh challenge.

The area is heavily used by mountain bikers and it is in the nature of their sport to continuously create new paths. The map is up to date as of 15 March 2026, but it is possible that additional paths will have appeared by the date of the event.

Warm up run area

The forest north of the A2 is not being used by courses for this event. Runners who would like an extended warm up run can use this area. A few blank maps will be avilable for loan on a first come first served basis. You must use the underpass to cross the A2.

Hazards

• This is a popular mountain bike area and while we have kept MTB groups informed about the event, we cannot guarentee that individual riders will not be present on their purpose made path network or on the forest roads.
• There are many small to medium areas of tree storm damage in the forest. These are mapped as forest fight. However individual trees are also down in places and may need to be carefully circumnavigated.
• The busy and fast A2 splits the area in two. If you need to cross this road for any reason please use the pedestrian underpass.
• Parents please be aware the walk to the start is on a greenway path alongside the busy A2.

Officials

• Organiser: Ruth Blair
• Controller: David Blair
• Planner: Des Fletcher