The Map

1. Grid lines run North-South only and indicate Magnetic North. These lines (known as north lines) are parallel lines drawn running from magnetic south to magnetic north and spaced between 200 to 500 meters apart on the map. On the example shown here, they are drawn in black. The reason that the north lines on orienteering maps are not drawn pointing to true north is because orienteers often use compasses to orient the map (to magnetic north, not true north) as the angle between magnetic north and true north (the declination) varies widely in different parts of the world. It has thus become a standard to provide a series of reference lines on the map so that it is easy to use an orienteering compass to take a bearing.
   
   
2. They are at a much larger scale and therefore allow much more detail to be shown. In fact, anything permanent on the ground which might act as a control site or aid navigation is normally mapped. For example, natural ground features (pits, knolls, crags etc.), vegetation features (thickets, clearings etc.), and man-made features (fences, walls, drains, buildings etc.) would usually be mapped. Usually the scale of orienteering maps is 1:10,000 or 1:15,000 - this means that a distance of 1cm on the map represents 100m or 150m on the physical terrain.
   
   
3. The colours, signs and symbols are unique to orienteering maps. Usually a key or legend appears on each map, but after a few events the colour and symbol definitions become second nature. The colours on orienteering maps are used to depict vegetation according to its density or runability. Yellow areas are treeless, white areas indicate wooded area where you can run, and dark green signifies very thick vegetation, often impenetrable.
   
   
4. Contours are much more detailed, usually appearing at vertical intervals of 5m.
   
   

Orienteering Map Symbols

• Black symbols are used for rock features (for example, boulders, cliffs and stony ground) and for linear features such as roads, paths and fences as well as for other man-made features (for example, ruins and buildings)
• Brown symbols are used for landforms such as contour lines, small knolls, ditches and earthbanks.
• Blue is used to mark water features: such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and marshes.
• Yellow is to designate vegetation - specifically open or unforested land.
• Green is used to show vegetation that slows down the passage of an orienteer. The darkest green areas, called "fight", are usually impassable.
• White on an orienteering map signifies forest with little or no undergrowth - forest that an orienteer can run through.
• Purple (or red) is used to mark the orienteering course on a map. Also, this colour is used to designate map corrections and out-of-bounds areas.