Tyler State Park
Tyler, Texas
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Tyler State Park in the Piney Woods of East Texas offers the best of Texas orienteering. The popular park features lots of shaded trails, some of which were built by the CCC back in the 1930’s. A small lake with a swimming beach is situated in the middle of the park and offers the chance to take a refreshing dip after the event. Most of the park is covered by very open and runnable pine and oak forest. However, the terrain is complicated with lots of hills and valleys carved by small spring-fed streams. But stay focused! This is one venue where it is easy to be distracted by the beauty of the surroundings and lose track of your route.
General info
Event Officials
Meet Director: Lisa Carr ……. Meet Director Notes
Course Setter: Stan Darnell……. Course Setter Notes
Assisting School: Dobie AFJROTC, Col. Bill Malpass
E-Punch Coordinator: Gene Wernette (and friends!)
Courses:
We’ll be offering the following courses:
White: Easiest
Yellow: Experienced beginners
Orange: Intermediate
Brown: Short advanced
Green: Medium-length advanced
Red: Long advanced
See a detailed description of each class.
Classes:
Unless stated otherwise, we’ll offer the full slate of NTOA classes. Classes are determined by age bracket for competitive individuals and +/- age 19 for Recreational (two or more people) teams.
See a listing of all the NTOA classes. (PDF)
Scoring: Sport-Ident e-punches will be used to score all courses. If you have your own, you’ll enter your number when you register. If you don’t have your own, you can rent one for $3 when you register.
Clinics: We will offer a Beginner’s Clinic and BSA Orienteering Merit Badge Clinic (see schedule below). Contact BSA Liaison Ralph Courtney for more information on the orienteering merit badge requirements.
Schedule
Please be sure to check the NTOA Facebook Page or Group for last-minute schedule changes. We hold events rain or shine, but we have unfortunately had to cancel events due to high water in the recent past.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:00 – 10:30 am | Registration opens |
| 9:00 – 9:30 am | Boy Scout Merit Badge briefing |
| 9:30 – 9:45 am | Beginner’s Clinic: Open to all! |
| 10:00 – 11:00 am | Orienteers start out on each course at one-minute intervals |
| 11:00 am – 2:00 pm | Results for all courses are calculated as orienteers finish |
| about 1:30 pm | Awards ceremony – held as soon as final results can be determined |
| 2:00 – 4:00 pm | Control pick-up: Volunteer and get a little extra practice |
Event fees
Individuals (1 person navigating on their own):
Only individuals can officially compete (awards for top 3 in each class) at NTOA events. But even if you’re doing it on your own just for recreation, please sign up as a (competitive) individual. Members and youth (aka, Juniors, age 19 and under) pay reduced event fees. There’s a $3 surcharge for adult day-of-race entries. So join NTOA and pre-register! Fee covers 1 map.
| Competitor type | Cost |
|---|---|
| Juniors (age 19 and under) | $10 |
| NTOA (and other O clubs) members | $15 |
| Non-member | $20 |
| E-punch rental | $3 |
| Day-of-race surcharge | $3 |
Recreational Teams (2 or more people navigating together):
We love teams — orienteering is a great family activity! Teams aren’t eligible for awards, just the fun. Base fee covers the first 2 team members and 2 maps. Add people for $5 each. Kids under age 8 are free (after first 2 team members paid).
| Team type | Cost |
|---|---|
| All teams (first 2 people) | $17 |
| Extra person (over age 7) – includes map | $5 |
Registration
Online pre-registration is highly encouraged! We use the pre-registration numbers to determine how many pre-printed maps to produce for each event. In particular, group leaders, please pre-register or drop the Registrar an email to talk about your group’s size. We do print a few extra maps, but there is no guarantee you will get a map if you don’t pre-register. Pre-registration is FREE and opens about 10 days before each event. so please take a moment to do it. Thanks!
Questions about registration? Contact the NTOA Registrar. For questions on other event matters, contact the Meet Director (listed above).
Instructions: Select one of the options below to register yourself, the students of your school group, or your fun recreational team. clicking on one of the buttons will take you to our separate NTOA Registration website.
Online Registration is CLOSED
Competitive Individuals
Large Group
Recreational Team
Register Individual
Register Group Members
Register Team
Enter 1 competitive individual at a time.
Enter 1-20 competitive individuals from the same group (e.g., school, club, Scout group, JROTC unit).
Enter 1 recreational team (min. 2 people; max 5 people).
See who’s registered:
View by surname
View by organization
View by class
Directions
From central Dallas to Tyler State Park:
- From Dallas take US-80 east approximately 20 miles until it connects with I-20.
- Continue east on I-20 for 62 miles.
- Take exit 562 for FM 14.
- Turn left (north) on FM 14.
- Go 2 miles to the flashing traffic light and turn left on Park Road 14.
- Stop at the park entrance station and pay the state park entrance fee, then proceed into the park.
- Continue straight past the construction project on the right where the park loop road intersects from the left and proceed to the large parking area (on the left) near the boathouse and store.
- From here o-signs will direct you from the parking area to NTOA headquarters in the Northwoods pavilion.