Shadow Pines, Score-O and Beginner course (600 Whalen Rd, Penfield, NY 14526)

Thursday August 24th, Registration from 6 to 6:30

Beginner Starts between 6-6:30 and 6:30 Mass start for Score-O

Beginner (White) -  2km 8 controls 10m climb

Score-O - 26 controls, 1 hr time limit

Course Setter's notes:

This is a new orienteering map which Dick Detwiler and others have spent many hours field checking. The land was a golf course which now belongs to the Town of Penfield. There is a Permanent orienteering course here that was an Eagle Scout Project from Boy Scout Troop 312. They are maintaining the course and maps are available for the Town of Penfield Recreation Dept. should you want to come back again.

The areas consist of a Northern section which has a Frisbee Golf course that follows the old golf course in some places. We will be sharing the area with them this evening. The area has paved paths, mowed trails and areas with weeds, trees and some areas with more vegetation.

The Southern section is varied terrain and vegetation. It was the rest of the golf course so it also has some paved trails, mowed paths (not as much as the northern section). Expect to find some tall grass, thistles, weeds and areas of small groves of trees. There are some large mature trees and some open areas that are growing back to forest. There will be some climb involved, don’t let the northern section fool you! There is a creek which has many rocks along it.

You have 60 minutes for get as many controls as you can. The controls have varying point values. You may choose to get some of the controls in the southern section, if you do, PLEASE USE CROSSWALK (HEADING TOWARD LARGE FENCED IN BARN). Traffic along the road and intersection is not used to runners so BE CAREFUL!

Please be back on time! Since it will start getting dark soon after the course closing time of 7:30, control pickup will begin right at 7:30. The penalty for being overtime is 10 points per minute or fraction of a minute.

Shadow Pines mapping comments

The map has a couple of symbols that are either not common, or used to represent somewhat different features than usual.

Because this used to be a golf course, there are still many paved paths. These are designated by the paved footpath symbol brown with black outline.

Also, the small depression symbol, which looks like a bit like a lower-case “u”, on this map nearly always represents what used to be a sand trap.

Vegetation: Mapping was done mainly in the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023. The Penfield parks people had mowed down nearly all of the park, except for the really wooded areas. At that time, all of the grass was quite short, even the rough open (although it could be distinguished from the open land by the coarseness of the grass).

Since then, not a lot of mowing (maybe no mowing) has happened in the rough open area. What was ankle-high vegetation when the mapping was done is now knee-high, waist-high, or head-high vegetation, some of which is passable, other areas of which are not at all pleasantly possible.

It just was not practical to re-map the whole area to show the current level of vegetation, especially since once it is mowed again, it would have to be re-mapped yet again. So just be aware that areas mapped as rough open will vary considerably in how passable they are.

Also, when visiting the area in early August, a number of other changes were found. There were some new trails cut through the tall vegetation in certain areas. Some trails that were indistinct when everything had been mowed down, were now much more distinct. Updates to the trails were made, and I think all of the important ones were captured, but there is no certainty that every one was.

String-O!!  Bring your kids (or prepare to unleash the kid inside you).  It will be e-punch so bring your sprinting shoes and we will see who earns the fastest string-O time!!

Pre-packaged snacks, fruit and jugs of water/Gatorade will be available.  

Don't forget to sign up to volunteer and pre-register.

See you in the woods!