Bringing Free Family Orienteering to Cambridge Thanks to City Support

Photo Credit: Mike Prozewski 2026 - Participants take off at Leprechaun-O 2026!

At Navigation Games, one of our biggest goals is making outdoor adventure accessible to everyone. Thanks to generous support from the City of Cambridge, we've been able to offer free, family-friendly public orienteering events throughout the City of Cambridge that bring hundreds of people together to explore local parks, solve challenges, and have fun outdoors.

Photo Credit: Caroline Salis 2025 - Vampire-O 2025 participants taking part in the fun!

The first event supported through the City of Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs was Vampire-O, our annual after-dark orienteering adventure held each year at Danehy Park in October. On October 23, 2025, we were thrilled to welcome 245 participants to the event and can’t wait to see that number continue to grow in 2026!

What began several years ago as a creative fall event has grown into one of the highlights of our calendar. Families and friends navigated through the park after sunset, with many showing up in fantastic costumes. Along the way, everyone earned candy while teams raced to visit every checkpoint trying not to get caught by vampires looking to steal their punch card and turn them into vampires. The combination of nighttime navigation, Halloween spirit, and friendly competition made for another unforgettable evening.

Photo Credit: Mike Prozewski 2026 - Leprechaun-O participants exploring Fresh Pond Reservation!

Our spring follow-up, Leprechaun-O, took place on March 19, 2026, at the beautiful Fresh Pond Reservation. We were excited to welcome 137 participants to only the second-ever edition of this event. The weather was perfect for getting outside after a long New England winter, even if it was a little chilly!

A special thank you goes to the Fresh Pond Reservation rangers and staff, whose support helped make the evening possible. We were also fortunate to have members of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Orienteering Team volunteer throughout the event. They helped with registration and setup, and even took on the important role of our mischievous leprechauns, moving select checkpoints around the course for teams to discover, and catch!

These events remind us how special our community is. We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm our participants bring and of the many volunteers who help create welcoming experiences for families of all ages. Seeing parents, children, friends, and first-time orienteers laughing, exploring, and working together is exactly why we do this.

Now we're excited to continue the tradition with a brand-new summer event!

Thanks to funding through a City of Cambridge Public Health Department grant, we're able to launch our shark-themed summer extravaganza community orienteering event. On Wednesday, August 5, we invite everyone to DCR's Richard McKinnon Park for an evening of summer adventure from 6:00–7:30 PM.

Our summer adventurers will navigate the park in teams or pairs using a map to visit checkpoints as quickly as possible. But watch out, there are sharks lurking trying to tag your team and delay your quest! 

Whether you've joined us for Vampire-O or Leprechaun-O before, or you're completely new to orienteering, this event is for you. Participation is completely free thanks to the City of Cambridge. Just bring your family, your friends, and your sense of adventure (and maybe a fun beach outfit), and we'll provide the maps, the challenges, and the fun!

For event details and registration, visit our event registration page HERE.

Navigation Games couldn't do what we do without the incredible support of our community. Thank you to the City of Cambridge, our volunteers, our partners, and every participant who joins us year after year. Together, you're helping make outdoor adventure, navigation, and family fun accessible to everyone, and we can't wait to see you at our next event.

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Sponsored by: The City of Cambridge