Natural Navigation

Enhancing Your Backwoods Navigation Skills

​When we’re in the outback, especially the deep outback, we like to have all the necessary navigation tools that we can (e.g. trail map, compass, GPS app, etc.,) to make sure that we successfully find our way to where we are going. But, in addition to having these tools, you need to have the knowledge related to how to use them, and the basic knowledge of how to read the signs of the wilderness around you.
 
So, if you're looking to enhance your backwoods navigation skills, you might want to check out Tristan Gooley's "The Natural Navigator" website. The site gives some great tips on how to use the Sun, moon, stars, sea, plants, animals and weather to help you find your way. The website has lots of great information and write-ups on how to navigate in the wild; it even has tips about how to navigate in a city and in extreme environments. 

You can check out “The Natural Navigator” at: https://www.naturalnavigator.com/ 

If you want to read a brief overview of natural navigation, here’s a good article, written by Sommer Mathis for Atlas Obscura back on 25 July 2017, that provides a good overview – “An Animated Guide to Nature’s Best Wayfinding Secrets”. The article covers five of Tristan’s favorite natural navigation tricks:

1. You can use the crescent moon to find south (or north)
2. Paying attention to birds can help you predict the weather
3. Most trees grow in a check mark shape
4. At a T junction, you can usually tell which way to turn
5. You can use Cassiopeia to find the North Star

 

You can read the entire Atlas Obscura article here: ​

If you want to learn even more than is covered in the brief Atlas Obscura article, or what is written on Tristan’s website, you might want to check out one (or more) of the books that Tristan has written to share his knowledge and expound on his point of view:

• The Natural Navigator (2010)
• The Natural Navigator Pocket Guide (2011)
• The Natural Explorer (2012)
• The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs (2014)
• The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs (2015)
• How to Connect with Nature (2015)
• How to Read Water (2016)
• Wild Signs and Star Paths (2018)
• The Nature Instinct: Relearning Our Lost Intuition for the Inner Workings of the Natural World (2018)