Border Liners, with the support of Carlisle City Council, have established a permanent orienteering course at Talkin Tarn Country Park. Talkin Tarn’s POC explores both on-path and hidden places within the park. There are 39 check points (controls) scattered across the park. We have proposed 3 courses which increase gradually in length and technical difficulty, from an easy 2.1 km circuit of the tarn, an intermediate course of 2.7km, and a longer course of 3.5 km. You can start a course and do as many or as few of the controls as you wish. Each of the courses are different and between them still do not visit all the controls so there is plenty of opportunity to explore further by making up your own route between controls.
If you would like to give orienteering a go at Talkin Tarn a “map pack” is available to download free from British Orienteering’s GO Orienteering website or from Carlisle City Council’s Talkin Tarn website. The map pack contains all you need to know about the permanent course at Talkin Tarn, what you are looking for and detailed orienteering maps of the country park. The special map of Talkin Tarn was updated in early 2022 and is at a scale of 1:5000. It conveniently fits on A4 and is readily printed at home. If you are unable to print at home you should be able to obtain an orienteering pack from the Talkin Tarn tearoom during normal opening hours. A small charge may apply to cover printing costs.
The car park at Talkin Tarn is located at OS grid reference NY543590, nearest postcode CA8 1HN. There is a parking fee between 10am and 6pm daily, the proceeds of which go to help maintain the park, but outside of these hours, parking is free. There are also toilets and a cafe, the opening times of which are on the Talkin Tarn website. For those having tackled a course you may have made a note of the codes at the controls you visited. If you would like to check your codes we have prepared a solutions sheet (see download link below). If you would like to offer feedback on the course you can do so by sending an email to mapping@borderlinersorienteering.org.
Why not try orienteering again? There are other permanent courses nearby, eg Rickerby Park. Alternatively, consider attending a real event. Border Liners hold events most months, many of which readily welcome newcomers. Check out our events page for what’s coming up.
Border Liners Orienteering Club 