Orienteering is finding your way across the land using a map and compass, and it can be a fun race too. You'll learn to read maps, measure your pace, and take part in real events. These skills make you a more confident hiker anywhere.
Why it's worth it
Orienteering turns a map and compass into a sport. You read the land, choose your own route, and race the clock to find flags hidden in the woods. The skill behind it is one every hiker, backpacker, and search-and-rescue volunteer needs: knowing exactly where you are and how to get where you're going without a phone. By the end you'll be setting courses for others and teaching your troop, which is how good navigators get great.
Start this week
- Borrow a baseplate compass from the troop and practice turning the dial to a bearing and walking toward a landmark in a park.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Orienteering counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- With a parent, look up the nearest orienteering club and its event calendar so you can plan for requirements 7 and 9.
- Measure 100 meters on a school track or field this week and count your paces three times.
Plan ahead: Requirements 7 and 9 depend on club event dates, and requirement 8 asks you to set up a course. Look up the club calendar first and sign up early; work on map and compass skills in between.
Stay safe
- Carry a whistle, water, and a watch, and know the course closing time and what to do if you get lost.
- Run with a buddy until you're experienced, and watch for ticks, poison ivy, and uneven ground.
Requirements · 10
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Show first aid for injuries you might get orienteering: blisters, cuts and scratches, tick bites, insect stings, snakebite, dehydration, and heat and cold problems (sunburn, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, hypothermia). Tell your counselor why you should recognize poisonous plants and animals near you
Tip: Learn how to treat sprains, blisters, cuts, and heat or cold problems you might face while out on a course.
- Requirement 2
Explain what orienteering is
Tip: Watch a short video of an orienteering event to see how it works.
- Requirement 3
Compass skills
Tips for this section: Practice taking bearings in your backyard or a park until finding your way feels natural.
Example for this section: In a park, pick three landmarks like a light pole, a bench, and a big tree. Take a bearing from one to the next, walk it while counting paces, and see how close you land. Then try a triangle course and see if you end where you started.
- Requirement 3a
Explain how a compass works and describe the parts of an orienteering compass
- Requirement 3b
Outdoors, demonstrate taking a bearing with a compass and then walking it
- Requirement 4
Topographic maps
Tips for this section: Get a topo map of a place you know and match the contour lines to the hills and valleys you've seen.
Example for this section: Get a topo map of a park you know. Find a hill by its circle of contour lines, a valley by its V shape pointing uphill, and look up the area's declination so you can explain how to adjust between map north and magnetic north.
- Requirement 4a
Explain how a topographic map shows the land's shape. Find and name five terrain features both on a map and outdoors
- Requirement 4b
Find 10 topographic map symbols and say what each one is
- Requirement 4c
Explain declination and why you have to account for it when using a map and compass together
- Requirement 4d
Show a topographic map that has magnetic north-south lines
- Requirement 4e
Show how to use an orienteering compass to measure distance on a map
- Requirement 4f
Show how to orient a map with a compass
- Requirement 5
Lay out a 100-meter pace course and find your walking pace and running pace over 100 meters. Explain why counting paces matters
Tip: Measure 100 meters on a field or track, walk it several times, and average your paces.
For example: Lay out 100 meters with a long tape or a track. Walk it three times counting every time your left foot lands, average the counts, then try it on a slope and in brush and note how your pace changes.
- Requirement 6
Control descriptions and techniques
Tips for this section: Make flash cards for control symbols and quiz a buddy.
- Requirement 6a
Identify 20 international control description symbols and tell what each one means
- Requirement 6b
Show a control description sheet and explain what its information tells you
- Requirement 6c
Explain each term and when you'd use it: handrail, catching feature, collecting feature, attack point, aiming off, contouring, reading ahead, relocation, and rough vs. fine orienteering
- Requirement 7
Orienteering events
Tips for this section: Look for events from a local orienteering club, and take notes after each one about what went well.
Example for this section: After each event, jot down your course, your time, a route choice that worked, and one mistake, like overshooting a control because you didn't use a catching feature. Bring all three reports to your counselor.
- Requirement 7a
Take part in three orienteering events, including at least one cross-country course. Following the buddy system, you may do this in pairs or groups
- Requirement 7b
After each event, write a report with: the master map and control description sheet, the route you took, ways you could have moved faster between controls, and your biggest weaknesses on that course. Describe what you could do to get better
- Requirement 8
Set up a course. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Start with a small course in a familiar park, and test it with a friend before others run it.
Example for this section: Set a cross-country course in a park you know: at least 2,000 meters with six to eight controls, a clear start and finish, and a mix of easy and tricky legs. Make the master map and control description sheet, have an experienced adult check it, then have a buddy run it before anyone else does.
- Requirement 8a
Set up a cross-country course of 2,000 meters or more with five or more control markers, and prepare its master map and control description sheet
- Requirement 8b
Set up a score course with 12 or more controls and a time limit no shorter than 60 minutes. Give each control a point value, and make the course's master map and control description sheet
- Requirement 9
Serve as an official at an orienteering event. It may be the event where your requirement 8 course is used
Tip: Ask a local club if you can help at the start, finish, or a control point.
- Requirement 10
Teach your patrol, troop, or crew some orienteering techniques
Tip: Plan a short, hands-on lesson and let your unit practice right away.
For example: Plan a 20-minute troop lesson on thumbing the map: show it, demonstrate it on a short leg, then send pairs out on a mini course in the parking lot or meeting-place grounds.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A local orienteering club event
Clubs run beginner courses and often have someone at the start who teaches newcomers how it works.
How: Have a parent check the club's event page, register for a beginner course, and go with a parent or buddy. Ask the organizer about volunteering for requirement 9.
A state park with a permanent orienteering course
Some parks keep fixed control markers year round, so you can practice any weekend.
How: Have a parent call the park office or visitor center and ask whether they have a permanent course and a map to borrow or download.
Where it can lead
- Land surveyorMeasures and maps land boundaries; many start as survey technicians and work up to a license.
- GIS specialist or cartographerMakes digital maps that cities, parks, and emergency services rely on.
- ForesterManages forests and spends many days navigating off trail.
- Military officer or soldierLand navigation is a core skill taught in basic training and officer programs.
- Search and rescue team memberVolunteers and professionals use map and compass to search for lost hikers.
Ask yourself
- When have you felt lost or turned around, and what would you do differently now?
- Which navigation skill still feels shaky, and how could you practice it?
- How did you decide between a fast route and a safe route during an event?
- What did setting a course teach you that running one didn't?
- How could you use these skills on your next hike or campout?
Good questions to ask your counselor or an experienced orienteer
- How do you choose a route when you can see two good options on the map?
- What do you do the moment you realize you've lost contact with the map?
- How do course setters decide where to put controls?
- What's the best way for a beginner to get faster without making more mistakes?
- What jobs do volunteers do at an event, and which one would be good for me?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Set up a simple orienteering course at a campout for the whole troop.
- Help scouts find events through a local orienteering club.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Orienteering USA (opens in a new tab) — Find local clubs and events.
- U.S. Geological Survey (opens in a new tab) — Topographic maps.
- Older Scouts and troop leaders — Great partners for map and compass practice.
- NOAA Magnetic Declination Calculator (opens in a new tab) — Find the declination for any place so your compass and map agree.
- USGS Topographic Maps (opens in a new tab) — How to find and read free topo maps for almost anywhere in the U.S.
Pairs well with
Helps you earn
Into this? Explore more
Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.