Door Creek Park

Acres: 160.00

This community park, with nearly 160 acres, is located on Madison's far eastside in the Door Creek neighborhood. First acquired in 1990 and a Door Creek Master Plan approved in March 2008, this park features a reservable shelter, tennis courts with shared pickleball courts, a large playground, basketball courts, hiking trails and multipurpose fields.

All Season Trail Map

The land is adjacent to Dane County Parks, Blooming Grove Drumlins Natural Resource Area, North Unit.

Alternate addresses and access points: 6901 Bluff Point Drive, 851 Harrington Drive, 7202 Cottage Grove Rd., 625 Highcliff Trail, between 533 & 601 Highcliff Trail

Winter Recreation

New in 2025-26 - an ice rink and staffed pavilion for cross-country ski, ice skate and snowshoe rentals and concessions as conditions allow. A cross-country ski permit is required at this location. See Winter Activities for updates and more information.

Orienteering Course

Note: With permission from Madison Parks, this orienteering course was constructed as a one-time, Eagle Scout project in July 2022. The course is not maintained. Please report issues to Madison Parks. We anticipate it will be removed at some point in the future.

Orienteering is an activity in which participants use a map and compass to navigate an area and find posted markers. Participants can complete the course competitively or casually, perhaps racing one another or simply finding markers at their leisure.

The orienteering course is ONLY OPEN in the non-winter months, as several markers are placed on cross-country trails.

What you will need:

• Compass
• Orienteering Course map, map image (download or printable)
• Marker symbol sheet (optional, download or printable)
• Pencil (optional)

Using the Map

The map is a very simple guide to finding the markers throughout the park. North on the map is the top edge. On the map, the purple circled numbers denote the locations of the 12 numbered markers, and the purple triangle is the starting and ending point. The circles show a control area with about a 15-foot radius inside of which the marker is located, and the purple lines spanning from marker to marker denote the compass direction from each and to each as the crow flies. The marked trails are still to be followed.

Signs/Markers in the Park

Markers consist of a green metal post extending 4 feet out of the ground, with a 6x6 inch orange-and-white sign fastened to the top. The sign has a number on the top left to show which marker it is, and a Greek letter on the bottom right, as shown below.

Using the Greek Letters (optional)

If participants wish to run a competitive orienteering race, they can print out the Marker Symbol Sheet in addition to the map. Participants copy down the Greek letter found on the signs to prove that they did in fact find the markers. The sign numbers and their corresponding letters can also be found in the Symbol Key document on this page.

This orienteering course was constructed in July 2022 as an Eagle Scout Project by Zane Brolin and Troop 16.