*Bike Orienteering - Participants travel to each control on a bike. Events are held on both street and mountain bikes (mountain bike has the international championships).

Canoe Orienteering - Event is done on a lake or tidal water area within a canoe.

*Cross Country / Foot ( point-to-point) - A course of controls to be taken in a specific order is laid out. Lengths vary from a few kilometers for beginners to ten or more kilometers for experts. The classic form of orienteering.

Line Orienteering - Maps are marked with a line indicating the exact route to be followed.. Participants mark their map where they find each control. Excellent training event for improving map reading skills.

Motala (individual relay) - Excellent for school yards and small areas. Participants do a loop of several controls and return to the start. They then continue to do all of the other loops.

Night Orienteering - Variation of point-to-point or score orienteering conducted at night. Controls are marked with reflective tape and participants use head lamps or flashlights.

Project Orienteering - Excellent for use by school and scout groups. At each control the participant attempts to complete some type of activity. The activity may be used to teach a new concept or used to test a skill.

Relay Orienteering - Each team member does a short course and tags the next team member. A mass start is usually used.

Rogaine ("Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance") - Teams try to locate as many controls as possible in a 4, 12 or 24 hour period. Similar to a score event.

Score Orienteering - Participants try to find as many controls as possible in a given amount of time. Controls usually have different point values depending upon distance from the start and the difficulty of navigation required to find them.

*Ski Orienteering - Event is done on cross country skis. A point-to-point event in which the participant tries to pick the fastest route through a network of trails.

Star Event - Participants must return to start between each control. Used mainly for training.

String Orienteering - Used with preschoolers and primary grade children. Controls are placed along a string which leads the child to each of the controls. Level of difficulty may be varied.

*Trail Orienteering - Designed for those with disabilities. Participants remain on the trail. It is an un-timed event where the challenge is mental and achievement is based upon the ability to correctly interpret the map and its relationship to the ground.

Trivia Orienteering - Proof-of-arrival at each control site is confirmed by answering a question about the site.