May 2, 2017

World Orienteering day is fast approaching! This year it takes place on 24^th May why not pop by Whinlatter to take part. Whinlatter is England's only true Mountain Forest, is home to stunning views, fantastic walks, exhilarating mountain biking, rare wildlife and adventure play.

Whinlatter forest have recently updated and refreshed the orienteering courses and can cater for a range of abilities. They have a 0.6km easy star course, a moderate 1.4km line course, a hard 2.4 km course, a hard 3.5 km course plus a mountain bike orienteering course which is approx. 12km with 1000ft of climbing.

Orienteering Courses:

• STAR (easy) 0.6km aimed at complete beginners and helps you to become familiar with the visitor centre surroundings. Numbers can be done in any order.
• LINE (moderate) 1.4km venturing further into the woods using well surfaced paths and variable terrain, numbers to be found in numerical order.
• COURSE A (hard) 2.4km more challenging course with control points located deeper into the woods and more remote navigation and variable conditions underfoot, numbers to be found in numerical order.
• COURSE B (hard) 3.5km our hardest course with steeper and more varied terrain and greater distance, numbers to be found in numerical order.

The Mountain Bike Course:

This course is designed to introduce you to mountain bike orienteering, mostly using forest roads and sections of Quercus (blue grade) mountain bike trails. It is suitable for those with good level of fitness, a basic quality mountain bike and with some experience in riding mountain bike trails.

You can set your own time limit say 1 hour, 1.5 hours or 2 hours depending on the weather and or skill/fitness. Alternatively you can try and collect all of them and record your best time.

Further Information

Further information can be found at the back of the map, such as control description and safety information.

Maps for all courses can be purchased at the visitor centre and cost £1.50 each.

The courses are open from 10.00 a.m onwards.

Parking is chargeable at the following rate:

• 20 mins = free, 1 hour = £2.00, 2 hours £ 3.35, 
• 3 hours £4.70, 4 hours £6.05, 5 hours £7.40 or 
• all day £8.00. 

There are a number of picnic tables available for use, a wild play area and the fantastic Siskins Café at Whinlatter to help you make the most of your visit. Not forgetting the Gruffalo trail where you cam follow clues and collect evidence as you search for the Gruffalo along the Gruffalo Spotters trail! Bring the characters to life before your eyes with The Gruffalo Spotter free app, or gather clues with an Evidence Kit. More>>