Access and Orienteering

The Ettrick Marshes is located off the B7009 which runs along the Ettrick Valley. There are 2 car parks from which visitors can access the Marshes. The main car park is located by the riverside at Honey Cottage, accessed along the track running parallel to the caravan park. The main floodplain routes are accessed from this site. The second car park is at the Tima Water end of the site. From here visitors can access a short native woodland loop, the Tima Loop, as well as routes through forestry which leading towards the floodplain.

A 10km network of colour coded paths lead through the floodplain, native woodland and surrounding conifer forest. The routes vary in gradient, and length and information on routes is shown in the table below. Leaflets are available in the car parks and the map of the Marshes can downloaded here.

Please note the floodplain is a very wet environment and waterproof boots are recommended to visitors. It is not advisable to access the Ettrick Marshes during strong winds or heavy rains as water levels can rise very quickly in this area.

Orienteering

Orienteering is the sport of navigating between control points around a course using an orienteering map. An orienteering course with 30 controls has been set out in the Ettrick Marshes to allow you to navigate around this natural wilderness. Families and children can enjoy a pleasant walk through the Marshes and forest paths finding control points on route, while more competitive sportsmen can race round the course and try to complete it in the shortest time possible. Orienteering leaflets are available at the car parks or from the BFT offices.

Each control post displays a control post number with a unique code number in this example
E20 - control post number
67- code number

The challenge is to find the control posts and code number using the map and description. The 30 control posts are marked on the orienteering leaflet and this orienteering map and a helpful description of the exact location of the control post is given on this table, e.g., path junction.
E controls are easy to find
M controls are located slightly off the path and may require more navigating to find.

There are 4 courses suggested on the map or you can choose your own route. The suggested courses include approximate distances and gradient of the land. Travelling at a gentle pace it takes approximately 20 minutes to travel 1km. You need a pencil or pen to write the control code numbers in this table when you find the control posts.

Once completed the course, the answers can be checked here