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Lake Elmo Permanent Orienteering CoursesLake Elmo Permanent Orienteering CoursesWith the sponsorship of Mike Polehna of Washington County Parks, and the assistance of Eagle Scout candidate Ricardo Escobedo and his Stillwater Scout Troop 114, MNOC has set up a permanent orienteering course (POC) at Lake Elmo Park Reserve (10 miles east of St.Paul). The course has 26 control points scattered around the southern part of the park. It starts at the South parking lot (about 400 yards north of the main park office). It is set in a mix of rolling hills, woods, open prairie and small lakes. The courses can be done in summer or winter (but please stay off the ski trails if not on skis in winter).
The control points A to F are beginner/novice standard, G to O are intermediate standard and P to Z are expert/advanced standard. The beginner course is: start - A, B, C, D, E, F - finish (same location as the start) . It is approximately 1.5 km long and on trails. The intermediate course is harder and runs from the start to G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O and to the finish (same location as the start). It is 2.6 km (as the crow flies) and consists of controls typically about 50 to 150 meters off the trails. Use of typical orienteering techniques such as "handrails" and "attack points" with good map reading and compass will be useful. Long pants and/or good leg protection is advised because of brambles and the occasional patch of poison ivy. The advanced course (start - P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z to finish) (4.5 km as crow flies) provides some advanced route choice and precision navigation challenges. Good leg protection is advised because of brambles and some poison ivy (particularly just to the east of point Z) . Other course options can be designed by the user to meet their needs. One option is to do a score O (for example: visit as many points as possible in 45 minutes with penalty for lateness), or another option is a course with easy controls at the beginning leading up to some harder controls (for example B, C, H, L, X, Y) . There is a competition for the fastest time on each course and for each of the standard USOF age groups (e.g., M-14 = Male under 14 on Dec 31st, F20+ = female over 20). The fastest times will be posted here on this web site. Notify the webmaster of your time, age group, course, name and affiliation, date, any modifiers (skis/snowshoes ?) and we will post it here. Maps and clue sheets are available.$4 each$3 each for over 5 sets Shipping and handling included. Order the maps and clue sheets online. Best times for Lake Elmo POCMale classes: M-14, M-16, M-18, M-20, M20+, M30+, M40+, M50+, M60+
Tables will be expanded as more results are received.
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Control
points and the start/finish are marked with brown fiberglass posts
identified with the control letter and a number code. There is an example
post at the park office and also at the start/finish (by the large map sign
on the north side of the main south parking lot) . A pen or pencil is required to
write down the control number code to prove (if necessary) that the control
was visited.