The house I owned in Wrentham MA had a 10 acre "back yard". The yard consisted of a couple of heavly wooded (oaks and pine) acres and a 7+ arce pit that was dug to provide fill needed during the construction of highway 495. The pit had been planted with small trees after the highway was complete
Being into fantasy, I drew a map of the yard and called it Gurdnal. I kept the proportions of the property accurate, showed topography, trails, and general type of vegetation.
I also added names to areas of the property. A latge clearing in the far west of the property became "Goldfishers Village" and an area where very little was growing became the "Dry Copper Sea".
When I decided to hold Quests, I used the picture of as a templete and created a drawing of the Land of Gorlwyn, the magical land where the Quests take place.
As with the drawing of Gurdnal, the drawing of Gorlwyn was accurate to the proportions of the property, topography, trails, and general type of vegetation. Changes the had occurred were also shown, for example the "The Dry Copper Sea" had become a swamp and I had expanded "Goldfishers Village" to make space for a Tournament Field and the Quest Inn (shown on the map as a campfire circle).
Some other areas of note on the mop of Gorlwyn are the Gypsy Camp and the small blue X in the woods above the Keep. Both locations were needed by players during Quests. The Gypsy Camp was intentional obvious but the small X, which marked the shrine of the Cult of the Dark, and the small open space to the left of the Tournament Field, where the High Wizard was located, were intended to bedifficult to find. Players who studied the the Field Guide, which contained this map, had an advantage over players who did not. This provided a useful dynamic in the quest.
Preparing the area for a Quest was a major undertaking. The Tournament Field, the space for the Quest Inn, the Gypsy Camp, and the trails all needed to be weed-whipped. The plastic water line that ran from the house to the site of the Quest Inn needed to be checked and repaired. The Quest Inn (a very large blue tent), my pavalions, and the Gypsy tents needed to be set up. Benches and tables for the Inn also needed to be brought down and set up. A lot of work, but I had a lot of help, and the results were well worth it.