Like a treasure hunt, unique Johnson County club explores local parks

As the weather gets warmer and the great outdoors come calling, if you’re looking for something new to do, a Johnson County outdoors club might have just the thing.

Events from the Possum Trot Orienteering club work like this: The club sets out a course with various numbered check-in spots scattered throughout a park. Each person gets a topographical map that includes elevation and terrain markers and a compass.

From there, it’s almost like a treasure hunt to go hiking through the course and punch your electronic chip at each check-in point. Typically, there’s a staggered start so that people don’t just follow each other from one point to another.

Parks in Johnson County parks host a lot of the club’s events, including Shawnee Mission, Ernie Miller, Lake Lexington, Kill Creek and Heritage.

“If there’s a park that’s big enough, we’ve probably mapped it,” said Dean Hall, club president.

You can adapt orienteering for a variety of levels, and Hall encourages beginners to give it a try.

Though many of their events are in the winter in wooded areas, some of their more scaled-down, beginner-friendly events are in the spring and summer in places such as Meadowbrook Park.

“They’re good for beginners because it’s a smaller scale and also, you’re able to see your environment better. When you’re in the woods, you sometimes can’t see very far because you’re surrounded by trees. In the park, you can see where the buildings are and … that helps you better determine where you are on the map,” Hall said.

He said the group talks beginners through all the symbols on the map to make sure each person understands how to follow it.

There’s a large variety of people who come to the orienteering events, from kids looking to complete merit badge requirements to retirees to current and former members of the military.

“There was a gentleman on a course — he was carrying a 90-pound rucksack and still running. That guy was a beast,” Hall said.

There’s no minimum age to participate, but parents are responsible for keeping track of their younger kids.

“When my son wanted to go on his own, I let him go, and I kind of kept track of him from afar the first couple of times,” Hall said. “The transition from going on a team to going individually is kind of up to how well the young person can read the map. There’s the aspect of getting lost, and it’s how you recover from that. If kid’s not going to panic, then you know they’re old enough.”

At a March 7 event at Olathe’s Prairie Center preserve, participants could choose different ways to complete the course.

Those with more advanced skills could follow the map to find the various check-in spots in numerical order. People on the beginner side could just try to find as many of the check-in points as they could, in whatever order, before their 90 minutes were finished.

At that Olathe event, the set course had 16 check-in spots, although Hall had to remove one of them due to weather conditions . Hall said he often positions the spots so that participants get to see different beauty spots in the parks.

Jessica Roe of Gladstone has done plenty of hiking but wanted to try something different.

“I know how to read the maps, but now, I’m challenging myself to find the things,” she said.

She found 13 of the 15 available check-ins and said she’s ready to do it again.

Topeka resident Cindy DeMotte was in town visiting family and brought them all with her to the event, including her 2-year-old and 5-month-old grandchildren.

Lawrence resident Janet Majure said she’s been orienteering for a couple of years.

“I always have more fun at this than anything else I’m bad at. I like puzzles, and it’s like a puzzle,” said Majure, a former Star employee.

Although some people are competitive and run through the whole course, most people take things a little slower.

“Well over half of our people attending are just there for a hike and to go for a walk in the park.

That is probably our average person’s experience. They get the map, and they’re just there to go experience nature or go have some fun and have a purpose for doing it,” Hall said.

For more information on upcoming orienteering events, keep checking ptoc.org/schedule.

This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 5:35 AM.