The Orienteering Course or Orienteering Trail at Stone Mountain is a permanent orienteering course in the woods on the south side of the mountain. The course is 1633 meters (5358 feet) in length. It starts behind the chimney of an old homestead along the Cherokee Trail 79 meters (260 feet) south of the railroad tracks along the trail, at 33°48'14.36"N 84°9'22.15"W, and ends where the Cherokee Trail crosses Stonewall Jackson Drive at 33°47'52.84"N 84°9'4.38"W.
Starting point
There are 23 marked stations. The course has vertical pipe markers which are under knee high and about two inches in diameter. The first four markers are green and the remainder are white. Each marker has the marker number and the distance and bearing to the next marker painted on it.
Station marker number one behind the chimney
Unfortunately, many of the distances and bearings are not as advertised. While the inaccurate distances are not a major problem, the incorrect bearings can make following the course very difficult. The following chart shows the indicated and actual values as measured. I have walked the orienteering course a total of six times while carrying a GPS receiver. During these hikes I have averaged the location of the markers and mapped them. Similarly, the 100-foot marker is actually located 108 feet from station 1 (and is 8 feet south of the line from station 1 to station 2).
Station |
Bearing |
Distance |
||
Stated |
Actual |
Stated |
Actual |
|
1-2 |
292° |
285° |
440’ |
327' |
2-3 |
270° |
271° |
286’ |
383' |
3-4 |
219° |
215° |
255’ |
296' |
4-5 |
180° |
175° |
345’ |
349' |
5-6 |
81° |
82° |
225’ |
189' |
6-7 |
157° |
154° |
286’ |
281' |
7-8 |
164° |
159° |
281’ |
277' |
8-9 |
84° |
79° |
300’ |
270' |
9-10 |
175° |
167° |
322’ |
314' |
10-11 |
130° |
130° |
292’ |
256' |
11-12 |
147° |
139° |
200’ |
205' |
12-13 |
223° |
220° |
110’ |
94' |
13-14 |
150° |
138° |
155’ |
101' |
14-15 |
125° |
129° |
340’ |
323' |
15-16 |
150° |
136° |
175’ |
154' |
16-17 |
130° |
124° |
249’ |
247' |
17-18 |
126° |
120° |
171’ |
169' |
18-19 |
108° |
101° |
245’ |
232' |
19-20 |
200° |
195° |
322’ |
312' |
20-21 |
46° |
48° |
192’ |
165' |
21-22 |
42° |
51° |
165’ |
164' |
22-23 |
42° |
36° |
248’ |
254' |
Orienteering course map
Magenta: specified
White: actual
In these station photographs you will see my GPS receiver atop each marker. Every time I hike the orienteering course, I measure the position of each marker so they can be averaged. Hiking the orienteering course in the winter increases accuracy since there are fewer leaves blocking and reflecting the satellite signals.
The 100-foot marker
Station 3
Station 8
Station 9
Station 10
Station 16 with the Cherokee Trail in the background
Station 22
Station 23, the end of the orienteering course