One of the best scouting activities in our area is Orienteering. One of the best local spots for anything scout related is Nobscot Scout Reservation (in Sudbury, MA). Below is a note to our kids on what to expect. I thought it might be useful if you need anything like this. We have also taken the scouts here and introduced them to Geocaching – a highly recommended activity that the kids really liked. I’ll spend more time on this later. Link to geocaches in Nobscot area:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=42.384659&lng=-71.4180622&dist=25

 nobscot-geocaches.doc  Printout I made of the geocaches in Nobscot (check link above to see if revised)

nobscot-top-map.ppt   Topo Map I put together (may not be too useful at this scale)

nobscotmap.pdf  Park map for Nobscot

The local Orienteering club, NEOC, has a scout-o event here every October (you must register by August, watch the Council website to see when the invitations go out). NEOC also has a similar event in the spring at Hale Reservation in Westwood, MA, but it is signficiantly less challenging.

This is an article on the Nobscot Scout-O that was recently in Scouting magazine:

scout-o-article-sept07.docx and link if this Word07 does not open:

http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0709/a-orie.html

Link to Scouting Orienteering- if this link stays active, check out this site to see if you can find any local action: http://www.scoutorienteering.com/

Orienteering at Nobscot

MORE INFO:

To give you a little more information – this would be a 2 night campout (Fri/Sat) to Nobscot Scout Reservation (between Framingham and Sudbury). A very nice place to go, lots of interesting things to hike to (such as an overlook to see Boston, a sizable mountain that Thoreau, Longfellow and Emerson once hiked up, and an 18th century small-pox cemetery). We could do as either a large scale “troop campout,” cabins (if not too late to get one), or a backcountry experience (plenty of places to really get that sense of remoteness). You have to hike in all your camping gear, so we either put on wagons or on our backs.

The orienteering instruction is very good. Trained leaders lead the boys through the use of a map and spend a day working with them. It is mainly land navigation as opposed to compass work, but it depends on the leader running it (last year as one of the leaders I spent a good part of the day on compass skills). Sunday is a competitive (but no pressure) orienteering course which is a lot of fun (scouts go off in small groups without adults). It snowed lightly last year, but it really was great being outside that weekend.

I have found that scouts really like orienteering but have limited opportunities to practice their skills. You can’t find better training for those that have never used a map/compass before, or for those that have, a better place to build confidence. 

More on Nobscot – this area of course was settled by indians. Scattered about are a number of artifacts worth pointing out to the scouts. Below is a picture of Lee Swanson of the Sudbury Historical Society pointing out an indian corn grinding stone. Note there are 4 right in this area (just below Legion Cabin). The large flat rock (right on the trail up) across from this one pictured was used to process hides. Here is a link to an article on Lee and Nobscot history: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sudbury/news/x325172021

Nobscot Reservation is also related to the Wayside Inn (“just over the mountain”). The inn has it’s own unique history and Nobscot was a hiking destination for many of its visitors.  More on the Wayside Inn at my other website: www.howetavern.com

(map from Garfield and Ridley, “As Ancient is this Hostelry”)

Howe Tavern (also known as the Red Horse Tavern and now [Longfellow's] Wayside Inn), Sudbury, MA

Thoreau’s Journal, May 22, 1853

“This is the third windy day followed by two days of rain…a washing day…such as we always have at this season methinks. The grass has sprung up as by magic since the rains. The birds are heard through pleasant dashing wind than enlivens everything…Left our horse at the Howe Tavern. The oldest date on the sign is ‘D.H. 1716.’ An old women, who had been a servant in the family, said she was ninety one and that this was the first house built on this spot. Went on to Nobscot.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Journal, November 14, 1848

“T is the coldest November I have ever known. This morning the mercury is at 26. Yesterday afternoon cold, fine ride with Ellery to Sudbury Inn, and mounted the side of Nobscot…