Bush orienteering maps

On this page you will find links to our bush orienteering maps (currently 40). All of the maps on this page have been mapped at 1:15,000 scale, though they are generally printed at 1:10,000.

Once upon a time maps were laid out for print by the map maker. Today the ubiquity of on-demand digital printing on A4 means that a universal map layout will not work. Most maps are larger than A4 ensuring that course setters must choose to use only part of a map and this may miss any universal layout. The maps you will download from this site will often be sparsely laid out. Map layout is now undertaken in Condes. A layout template and a guide are available elsewhere on the web site.

Map name: The current name used for the area. This may have changed recently in an attempt to be consistent with Parks Victoria nomenclature. Click on the map name to be taken to the page for that map.

Live: A Yes indicates that the map page has been completed and the ocad files are available.

Manager: In most cases DELWP or Parks Victoria. Most events will have a permit before the start of the season. Permit lead times are lengthening so there is little scope for change in the fixture mid year. Some maps have other managers and these require their own access arrangements.

Access issues: Known access issues are summarised for each map. General access issues that apply across many maps are as follows-

• No parking off tracks. This severely limits the available assembly areas. Our continued access relies on us following this rule.
• Some maps are DOG FREE by regulation. Some require dogs to be on a leash, sometimes kept to tracks as well.
• Some maps have indigenous sensitivities. These require Dja Dja Wurrung consultation as part of the permitting process. Each of these maps has areas of cultural heritage interest that must be respected. These events also require an acknowledgement of Dja Dja Wurrung on the map. Standard wording exists.

Map Year: Year the map was most recently mapped, remapped or fully updated.

Basemap: The basemap the current map was built upon. Lidar basemaps will create a highly geographically accurate map that is georeferenced. Photogrammetry maps will be relatively accurate but may have distortions in axis scales or around hills. Some of these maps may have been approximately georeferenced. Government basemaps provide the mapper with very little, so applaud and don't be too harsh if you find distortions.

Mapper: Who made the most recent map or remap. Each mapper has his or her style.

Accuracy issues: Know issues with the map, mainly relating to vegetation or track changes.

Copyright: This site indicates club ownership where the club has purchased the map or commissioned and paid for the mapping. Sometimes this copyright is jointly held between two clubs. Where the map has not been commissioned or purchased the copyright is allocated to the mapper and the map file will only be on this site with the approval of the mapper.

Major event: The most significant event held on the map.

Area: The mapped area (with overlap removed).

On the map page you will find further explanation of the above points, as well as some further important pieces of information.

Location map: How to find the area.

Map suitability: Describes the form of course setting and event standard for which the map is suitable.

Safety Issues: safety issues the organiser/setter needs to plan for.

Map status: How useable is the map? Is it still accurate enough?

Assembly areas: With increased event attendance over the past decade, and increasing permit regulation, finding a suitable assembly area has become more difficult. A bulk permit is issued at the start of each year. It includes many conditions including one that requires all vehicles to be kept on tracks. Some maps have further permit constraints against parking on the side of tracks. And some locations create safety issues from fast moving traffic. For a local event an assembly may need to park 50 cars without parking spilling over onto vegetated areas. Course setters often spend a good time searching for an assembly area and sometimes their choices are undesirable. Often they are reinventing the wheel. Here you can find maps that show sites appropriate for local event and state series event assembly areas. This is a first go at documenting assembly sites. Some maps have been systematically searched (Lyell Forest and Pilchers Bridge). Others are less comprehensive. The listing of assembly areas will improve with time.

OCAD file: All but one of our maps is in digital form. Click here to download the map. The map will be in OCAD11 or OCAD10 format. This will allow course setters to use the map in ConDes. They will be unable to edit the map using the widely pirated OCAD8 or the open source Open Mapper program. This has the advantage of controlling past map versioning issues. The aim is to have an explicit versioning system for all maps uploaded to this site. Some maps may be unavailable if being withheld for a future major event.

DOWNLOADING OCAD FILES- READ THIS CAREFULLY:

Most of the files stored on this site are in OCAD 10 or OCAD 11 format. There are only two licensed copies of this in the club. But some people have the earlier version, OCAD 8. Others may have Open Orienteering Mapper. If this is you, Windows will offer you the chance to open the file in OCAD, and then will tell you the format is wrong. This is correct. Nothing is broken. Your software is looking for an OCAD8 file. The map you are downloading is in a more recent format.

Instead, download the file rather than open it. Then call the file when setting up the event on CONDES. CONDES reads the later versions of OCAD files (10,11 and maybe 12) but doesn't open them in the sense that windows understands.

You may also view the OCAD files in the free OCAD viewer, but this does not allow you to set courses or edit the files. You can use this to hide symbols (eg tracks) and save the file. https://www.ocad.com/en/downloads/ocad-viewer