SOUTH GEORGIAN BAY
Adventure Running in the Collingwood/Blue Mountains region
Dontgetlost has come North!
In 2023, we introduced a new program for adults and children who like to play outdoors in the South Georgian Bay area. Dontgetlost Adventure Running has held navigation events in the Blue Mountains and Collingwood areas for years. Now a group of local club volunteers is hosting map and compass adventure events in all seasons. We look forward to sharing more navigation adventures with community members from Collingwood, Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach and all around the South Georgian Bay area.
We aim to challenge experienced outdoor athletes and offer fun adventures for novices and hikers. Our events attract participants ranging from age 5 to 85. We have a wide variety of outdoor activities in our region so we like to mix things up with mountain bike, ski and snowshoe navigation events.
We're all volunteers and we can always use more help, whether it's picking up refreshments, checking in racers, taking photos at a race, collecting flags from the woods or writing a post for social media. In most cases, you can volunteer and participate in the event too. Please contact us at SouthGBay.dontgetlost@gmail.com if you might be interested in helping out from time to time. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
2025 Loree Forest Snowshoe Scramble
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Event Director: James Gallagher
Come play in the snow with us! This will be a 90-minute "choose your adventure" snowshoe navigation event suitable for runners and hikers, children and seniors, experienced navigators and beginners. Use a map and compass to explore Loree Forest and find as many flags as you can in 90 minutes.
2025 Highlands Ski-Orienteering
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Event Director: Mark Tarnopolsky
A fun point-to-point orienteering race for individual skiers using skate or classic technique. You will ski to all checkpoints on your map in numerical order from the start to the finish of your race course. Two course distances will be offered, with the longer course finishing after sunset to give participants an exciting taste of night ski-orienteering.
Spring Orienteering - Sunday, April 27, 2025
Mountain bike Orienteering - Sunday, October 5, 2025
Kolapore Orienteering - Saturday, October 18, 2025
Details to come!
Write SouthGBay.Dontgetlost@gmail.com to sign up for our e-newsletter.
2024 Season - Past Event Details and Results
2024 Kolapore Old School Orienteering
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Event Director: Barb Campbell
The Kolapore Uplands has a rich orienteering heritage. The first-ever World Masters Games in 1985 included an orienteering race in Kolapore and the Ontario Orienteering Championships were held here in 1983 and 1998.
After a quarter century away, we were excited to bring traditional orienteering back to Kolapore in 2023. Once again, we look forward to welcoming people of all ages, runners and hikers, novices and experienced navigators, to this beautiful escarpment terrain.
2024 Highlands Mountain Bike Orienteering
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Event Director: Amber Panchyshyn
Come join us for a fun Mountain Bike Orienteering race at the Highlands Cluster. This is a rare opportunity to ride this private bike trail network that is normally only open to Collingwood Offroad Cycling Club (CORC) members or participants at special events. Mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) events are an exciting mix of biking and navigation. If you can read a trail map and you have some mountain biking experience, you're ready to give it a try!
2024 Intro to Navigation Clinic
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Lead Instructor: Amber Panchyshyn
At this outdoor clinic in the Pretty River Valley area, local volunteers will provide an introduction to map and compass navigation using specialized orienteering maps with standardized symbols and colours. We will discuss some of the basic skills needed for orienteering, adventure running and adventure racing events. Then we'll go out on a novice orienteering course together to practise map reading and navigation techniques.
2024 Scenic Caves Ski-Orienteering
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Event Director: Mark Tarnopolsky
A fun point-to-point orienteering race for individual skiers using skate or classic technique. You will ski to all checkpoints on your map in numerical order from the start to the finish of your race course. Three different course distances will be offered to suit participants with different levels of experience in skiing and navigation.
2024 Loree Forest Snowshoe Scramble
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Event Director: James Gallagher
A 1-hour "choose your adventure" snowshoe navigation event suitable for runners and hikers, children and seniors, experienced navigators and beginners. Use map and compass to find as many flags as you can within the time limit.
2023 Season - Past Event Details and Results
2023 Kolapore Old School Orienteering
November 4, 2023
Event Director: Barb Campbell
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Kolapore Wilderness Trails, we are bringing orienteering back to the Kolapore Uplands! Kolapore has a rich orienteering heritage. This beautiful forest was the venue for the 1983 Ontario Orienteering Championships, the 1985 World Masters Games and the 1998 Ontario Orienteering Championships.
2023 Pretty River Valley MapRun
August/September 2023
Event Directors: James Gallagher and Bob Miller
You can do this event on your own schedule using an app on your phone as you explore the forest with a map. Participants have up to 2 hours to collect as many checkpoints as they can in this stunning, valley-strewn topography of the Niagara Escarpment.
2023 Collingwood Urban Map Adventure
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Event Director: Amber Panchyshyn
Choose your Adventure:
1) A pure Urban Orienteering course where you will visit checkpoints throughout the downtown Collingwood area, OR
2) An Urban Map Adventure where you will visit checkpoints to complete Missions and get to know downtown Collingwood a little better.
2023 Loree Forest Spring Adventure Run
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Event Directors: Angus Doughty and Barb Campbell
Suitable for runners or hikers, experienced navigators or beginners.
There will be a free introductory clinic an hour before the start to provide an overview to novices.
We have more events in the planning stages and will update this page regularly.
PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH
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To help us get the word out in the community, please share our info with your friends who might be interested. Thanks, and we hope to see you in the woods soon!
Contact us at: SouthGBay.dontgetlost@gmail.com
Thank you to OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS!
