Mount Laurie
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1:15000 5m

Basemap: Scott Robertson 1984, Harveys 1994
Field survey: Bryan Chubb, 1984-85, Revised and expanded, 1994-95
Digitizing: Malcolm Adams, 1995

Mt. Pinos
Los Angeles, California, USA

1:10000 5m

Base Map: Mikael Stern
Field Work: Plamen Djambozov, Roland Hansson, Joel Thomson
Cartography: Joel Thomson

Pothole Lake
Merritt, British Columbia, Canada

1:10000 5m

Base map: Olaf Hegleson
Fieldwork: Marian Cotirta, (1997) Gabi Costin
Revisions: Martin Pardoe
Cartography: Marian Cotirta, Richard Hall

The Map Formerly Known as Blue Mountain
St. George, Colorado, USA

1:15000 5m

Base: Ivar Helgesen
Other Stuff: Mikell Platt
a little help: JJ Cote

This map was used at the US Relay Champs a couple of years ago. I had one of my best runs ever here. Very complex cliffs throughout. This area is often used for commercials and print ads, so it is cool to see it on TV.

Pelican Bay
Laramie, Wyoming, USA

1:15000 5m

Base: Olaf Helgesen
Survey and Drafting: Mikell Platt

Surebridge Mountain
Harriman State Park, New York, USA

1:15000 5m

Photogrammetry: Ivar Helgesen, Bengt Stark
Field Survey: Mark Dominie, Janos Soter, JJ Cote, Kroum Sergiev, Steve Key
Cartography: Pat Dunlavey

Camp Ripley
Little Falls, Minnesota, USA

1:15000 5m

Base map: Stirling Surveys
Field survey: Stirling Surveys, Plamen Djambozov
Cartography: Plamen Djabozov
Printing: Graphic Design, Hastings Minnesota

Vasquez Rocks
Los Angeles, California, USA

1:10000 15ft

Base map: Los Angeles Dept. of County Engineer Survey
Fieldwork and Cartography: Clare Durand

Seton Park North
Carberry, Manitoba, Canada

1:10000 2.5m

Update: Sheldon Friesen

Another high altitude map. Again very open forests with rocky features. This map has some very deep strenuous reentrants. Those who are in great shape can do very well here.

Spooner Lake
Lake Tahoe, California, USA

1:10000 5m

Base map: Ivar Helgesen
Field survey and cartography: George Kirkov

This area is nearish to Camp Ripley on the Canada side. This is reforested sand terrain that is fast and soft underfoot. I really enjoyed this map.

Another one of those maps to defeat me early in my orienteering career. The boulders were just bewildering to me. Again, I look forward to the rematch. It is also a very strenuous area due to the climb and high altitude. I'm not sure how well the map is done, but the terrain is fantastic.

I have never run here, but I have heard about the legendary area. One of the top course setters in Sweden called it one of the best places for setting courses that he has ever seen. I hope that they have an A-meet here someday soon.

Paula and I went up to Canada in our first year of orienteering. I was lost for over an hour on this map. I came across Kelsey Breseman who was crying because she was lost, but I couldn't help her because I didn't know where I was. The terrain was very runnable and complex, a theme that you will see repeated in my favorites. I'm looking forward to a rematch!

There are many maps in Harriman Park in New York that are wonderfully complex and deserving to be on this list. I haven't run on this particular map, but I look forward to the challenge someday. One "feature" of eastern maps is that the footing is very rocky. It takes a special skill to run fast on this stuff.

I ran on this little map at the Colorado 1000 Days a couple of years ago. Beautiful wide open forests with perfect little reentrants. I had a very good run here.

This is one of the more complex maps in the Wyoming collection. It is notable for the granite features scattered throughout the entire map. As usual for this terrain, there is not a single branch on the ground to trip on. I love running here, but it does take some adjustment due to the altitude of 8000ft+.

We ran on this map at APOC this summer. Despite being very careful, I still had some mistakes in this complex part of the map. This terrain is nestled in the Canadian Rockies. Very beautiful!

My Favorite Maps in North America