In orienteering, the map-reading efficiency of orienteers determines the outcome of competition. It is necessary for orienteers to identify map symbols and colors selectively, so as to plan routes. The visual search characteristics of orienteers in map reading directly affect orienteers' mapreading decision performance, and it is important for scientific training that understands the visual search characteristics of high-level orienteers in map reading and formulate special training schemes on map reading. With the development of eye-movement technology, orienteers' visual search strategies can be studied through eye-movement mode. Athletes have different visual search behaviors in different events where there are different special characteristics. Due to different task orientation of special map reading in orienteering, it can be divided into two methods of map reading: general map reading and accurate map reading. Therefore, what kind of visual search strategy does different task orientation lead to? Moreover, previous studies have found that task difficulty would affect the processing depth and understanding of subjects on stimulative materials, and also affect their information processing strategies. Under the condition of different map-reading methods, what is the impact of task difficulty on visual search strategies? In this experiment, 29 male orienteering athletes of the national orienteering team are selected. Their average age is 21.6 years old; their sports level is master's degree or above, and their experiences of sports all extend for over 6 years. Use 2 (map difficulty: simple and complex) × 2 (map-reading method: accurate map reading and general map reading) within-subject design. The dependent variable indicators are the subjects’ route decision accuracy, reaction time, fixation times, fixation frequency, saccade distance, and fixation trajectory when reading the map. Each trial consists of two stages: route planning and route sweeping. The screen first shows the instruction, and then a 500ms fixation appears. Afterwards, a random orienteering map appears. After the planning is completed, press the "space bar" and the map disappears. Another 200ms fixation then appears, looking at the same map in the route planning stage. At this time, the subject is asked to quickly scan with his eyes on the map according to the route just planned. After scanning, press the "space bar" to end, and enter the next trial. There is a total of 48 trials in this experiment. Their eye movements are recorded with Eyelink1000 plus eye tracker. The findings of this study are as follows: as the map becomes more difficult, the map-reading accuracy of orienteers decreases (p<.001), and the reaction time of general map reading increases (p<.001). Compared with simple maps, orienteering athletes have longer fixation time when observing complex maps (p<.001), lower fixation frequency (p<.001), and shorter saccade distances (p<.001). Compared with accurate map reading, they tend to have more fixation time (p<.001), higher fixation frequency (p<.001) and greater saccade distance (p<.001). In the process of general map reading, the orienteering athlete searches forward from the starting point under simple map conditions, whereas they search forward from the end point under complex map conditions, with a large and scattered gaze area. In the process of accurately reading the map, whether it is a simple map or a complex map, the orienteering athlete first searches the control description table of the control point and the end point, and the attention area is small and concentrated. We can draw the following conclusion: the difficulty of maps restricts the map-reading decision performance of orienteers. The visual search characteristics of orienteers are affected by the ways of map reading and the difficulty of maps, which lead to different visual search strategies.