Basic map and compass work gets you a long way on most Australian tracks, but it starts to fall short once the track fades out, the terrain repeats itself, or the weather closes in. If you’re pushing into that kind of country, it’s worth having a few more tools in your navigation kit beyond the basic navigation skills most hikers rely on. These are three techniques I use when I need more certainty about where I am and where I’m heading: resection, celestial navigation, and dead reckoning.
Resection: Locating your position by landmarks
Resection is a fundamental navigation technique that uses known landmarks to pinpoint your exact position on the map. It works by taking a compass bearing to two or three identifiable features, such as a peak, trig point, or distinctive spur, and converting each into a back-bearing. To do this, identify a landmark you can also find on your map, then take a compass bearing to it from your location. Add or subtract 180 degrees to convert that bearing into a back-bearing, then plot that back-bearing as a line drawn from the landmark on the map. Repeat this for a second and, ideally, a third landmark. The point where these lines intersect is your position.
Resection is particularly useful when you know roughly where you are but need to confirm your exact location, such as after a section of unclear terrain or when relocating following a navigation error. Using three landmarks rather than two is good practice, since it highlights any error in your bearings as a small triangle rather than a false single point.
Celestial navigation: Guiding by the stars
Celestial navigation, the art of using celestial bodies to determine your position, was standard practice for seafarers for centuries before GPS devices took over. It’s largely disappeared at sea, but I still think it’s worth knowing as a hiker, if only because it doesn’t depend on anything with a battery.
At its core, celestial navigation means finding your position on Earth by measuring the altitude of celestial bodies above the horizon. That can be done with a sextant or by hand. Either way, it calls for a working understanding of the celestial sphere, coordinate systems, and how celestial bodies move through the sky, along with either the instruments or the mathematics to make use of that understanding.
While specialised instruments can make celestial navigation more accurate, they are not strictly necessary, especially for hikers. In fact, there are a number of manual techniques that can be used to estimate one’s position. Latitude can be estimated by measuring the altitude of a celestial body above the horizon, such as the sun at solar noon when it reaches its highest point in the sky. Longitude is more difficult to estimate manually, since it relies on comparing local time against the time at a known reference point, traditionally kept using an accurate chronometer.
Manual methods like these are nowhere near as accurate as instrument-based ones, but that’s not really the point for a hiker. I don’t carry a sextant, and I don’t know anyone who does, but on a long trip into remote country I like knowing there’s a way to check my bearings that doesn’t rely on electronics. It’s not something I’d use as a primary method, more a last-resort cross-check for anyone heading somewhere GPS and mobile coverage won’t reach. Find out more about navigating using the stars and moon here.
Dead reckoning: Maintaining your course
Dead reckoning is about estimating your position from where you started, the direction you’ve been travelling, and how fast you’ve covered ground. It earns its keep in open terrain where there’s nothing distinctive to aim for, and where holding a steady course matters more than fixing your exact position every few minutes. It’s the kind of technique that comes into its own on open country like the Monaro grasslands or out on desert tracks such as the Simpson, where the landscape barely changes for kilometres at a stretch.
To use it properly you need a reliable compass to hold your direction and some way of tracking your speed, whether that’s a GPS device or a simple pacing chart. Check your progress against the map regularly, because dead reckoning is only as good as your estimates of direction and speed. Wind drift and magnetic variation both pull you off your intended line, so factor them in and adjust your pace estimate as conditions change.
It’s not the most precise way to navigate, and I wouldn’t rely on it alone in complex terrain, but when the alternative is having nothing to go on at all, it’s a genuinely useful fallback for holding a general direction and estimating roughly where you’ve ended up.
Resection, celestial navigation, and dead reckoning aren’t techniques you pick up by reading about them once. They take practice, and the value shows up later, when conditions are bad enough that you actually need them. Learning them properly is part of building broader skills as a hiker, but none of it replaces basic preparation. Carry essential gear, stick to Leave No Trace principles, and be mindful of weather conditions. With thorough preparation, these advanced techniques give you another layer of certainty when you’re a long way from help and the usual landmarks have run out.
What’s your go-to navigation technique when you’re out in the bush? Any tips or stories to share from your hikes?
Aiming off. When off track and heading to an intersection, deliberately intend to meet the track/feature so you know where to head next.
Darren Hocking that’s an excellent recommendation. Certainly removes uncertainty
Assign navigation roles before you hit the bush or trail, maintain situational awareness, turn to take a mental snapshot of the way you came every now and then.
Ben Marshall love the check behind you tip. This one is often overlooked. It’s amazing how different a walk can look in the opposite direction.
It’s so easy to drift off a bearing, and sometimes you have to backtrack, so it’s a relief to recall a rock or tree or whatever as you retrace your steps. Tasmanian forests are waaaayyyyy easy to get lost in.
Ben Marshall Absolutely. They certainly unique. When Julie and I were down there recently, we kept commenting this is not a place you want to go off track without intent.