The contemporary approach to health leads to connection of tourism, recreation and sport with natural environment, mainly with forest resources. Forests play a very important role in implementing new forms of physical activity, in which the human contact with the natural environment is a key element. The aim of the study was to identify the motives and barriers that have the greatest impact on people who practice orienteering in the forest environment. The aim was also to determine the level of social participation in this new form of physical activity and to indicate the level of respondents’ awareness of the threats to forest ecosystem resulting from practicing orienteering. The research was carried out using the diagnostic survey method in 2019 among 2146 Polish residents who participated at least once in the orienteering competition. The group of respondents was selected in proportion to the entire Polish population. It was indicated that young people up to 30 years of age and people over 45 years of age participate in this sport professions to the greatest extent. The main motives for participating in this form of physical activity include the willingness to stay in the natural environment, destressing, enjoying clean air and admiring beautiful landscapes. The main barriers were as follows: too few marked trails that could be used for orienteering, too long distance from the trails and the lack of time. People practicing orienteering are aware that the use of the forest environment for this form of physical activity may have negative effects related to the mutilation of plants, trampling of the undergrowth, creating informal paths, scaring animals and littering forests. Those practicing this form of physical activity show a high level of awareness of the negative impact of sport competitions on the forest environment.