Virtual Orienteering Courses

Virtual Courses are where we use an orienteering specific smart phone application with GPS to enjoy orienteering courses at any time.

Virtual orienteering is different from traditional competitive orienteering courses or permanent orienteering courses in that there are no physical markers on the ground. Instead the app tracks your location as you progress around the course and vibrates/beeps to confirm when you have reached the control point. It may be called “virtual orienteering” or smart phone orienteering but there’s nothing virtual about the terrain, the excise or the navigation.

Along with many orienteering clubs across the UK and overseas, Border Liners use the free Maprun6 app. We have recently set up virtual courses at Rickerby Park in Carlisle using this app, with further courses to be added. See our Rickerby VOC page for specific course details.

To get started install the Maprun6 app on your smart phone from Google Play or Apple’s App store, or it can also be installed on certain Garmin GPS watches. We have prepared some basic information here on getting started. More detailed information on how to use Maprun is available from the Maprun website.

With VOCs available across the UK there should be something nearby. You can find a more detailed explanation of Virtual Orienteering as well as locations of the numerous VOCs in operation on the GO Orienteering website of British Orienteering.