Delaware Valley Orienteering Association

This summer I did the two rogaines that North Country Orienteering put on - one in June and one in September.

If you are looking for orienteering where you are not given away controls by other people, this is place.  I went 2-3 hours without seeing another person.  They encourage solos, but teams are also welcome.  You can study the map before your start as long as you like.  Starts are whenever you'd like within a few hour window.

The terrain is confounding.  Beavers have dammed just about every creek into flooded lakes or marshes.  The only practical way to get from one side of the lakes to another is to gingerly walk across the beaver dam(s).  Some dams are 50 yards long.  I also waded up to my waist once.

There are very few trails, and very few signs of human civilization at all in some places.  The woods are fairly nice but not runnable generally.  In June the ground was quite wet and in September everything was fairly dry.  The post-race food is minimal.  Camping is very primitive - I'd suggest a hotel.  Bugs were not a problem either date.  Punching is pin-punch, and for fun they include extra complicated scoring systems for bonus points (which I ignored completely).

I'm hooked - I'll be back for both their 2020 events next summer.  The drive is a bit much (350 miles or so).  Their maps are near the Saint Lawrence,  about an hour from the 1000 Islands area.