Hiking - An Introduction To Navigating Using Maps

By: Donald Saunders


Though you would think that it ought to be the other way around, you will find that the vast majority of seasoned hikers use maps to navigate their way along trails and across wilderness areas while novice hikers believe that maps are unnecessary. The novice frequently believes that there is no need to go through the hard work of learning to use a map and that he will be fine as long as he sticks to well used trails. Sorry to say, that is not the case.

You can get yourself seriously lost even close to well marked trails and straying just a few yards from the trail into a heavily wooded area has caught out more than one novice. Without the benefit of the sun, stars or recognizable geographical features it is far too easy to get disorientated and to find yourself straying even farther from the trail and getting yourself well and truly lost in next to no time.

Now in the example above a map by itself will not necessarily help you out of the wood in question. However, you will generally run across another trail which will hook up with the one you were on and a good map will help you to find your way with ease back to your starting point.

Okay, so where do you begin?

Start by getting hold of an up-to-date map which covers the area you are planning to hike in and begin by studying it carefully at home in a quiet and relaxed environment. Of course you will not be able to match the map to the features you see, but it will help you to learn and understand the symbols which are used on the map.

All maps will have a legend (which you will find differs slightly from one publisher to the next) and you want to familiarize yourself with the symbols. Additionally, you will have to understand the scale of the map which will be printed on it as something like 1 inch = 5 miles.

Bear in mind though that distance is only part of the equation and that 1 inch that represents 1 mile on open ground is a very different thing from 1 inch that represents 1 mile over an area including a steep winding path running up the side of a 2,000 foot cliff.

To allow for the latter, you will have to think about altitude which is marked on the map by a series of curved lines that, if 'stretched out', would form a circle. The spacing between two curved lines around a natural feature such as a large hill indicates the steepness of the terrain. Often you will find that there are numbers printed along the lines to help you. These are referred to as contour lines and the closer these lines are to each other the steeper the terrain.

Next, you should study the longitude and latitude lines. Longitude lines showing North and South run 'up and down' the map from the bottom to the top while latitude lines which show East and West run 'right and left'.

In the daytime you can use the sun together with natural features to orient the map so that it is lined up with the ground which you are hiking over. Remember that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West so that at the start of the day facing the sun will have you heading roughly East. Similarly, late in the day facing the setting sun will have you hiking in a Westerly direction.

After dark you can use the stars to navigate and you will often be able to see the sky reasonably well as most wilderness areas are a long way from the glow of city lights. One of the great joys of hiking is the ability to walk out under the canopy of stars and familiarizing yourself with such star formations as Orion and the Big Dipper as well as the North Star.


One of the first things you will need as a novice hiker is a good pair of hiking boots and you could do a lot worse than a pair of Asolo or Vasque hiking boots