TOP TIPS FOR MAP READING
1 WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
The first leg of a walk is often the hardest to navigate. Allow yourself plenty of time to relate what you see on your map to your surroundings. The more information you can gather about your position relative to your starting location, the more chance you’ll have of setting off in the right direction.
• Before you leave home, use your map to imagine what your arrival location will look like. Useful features include those that are manmade, such as roads, churches and public toilets, or natural ones, such as lakes, rivers or forested areas.
HINT: Print a copy of your map legend to carry with you. It’s easier than having to constantly turn your map over.
• When you arrive, take some time to ‘tick off’ the features on your map against the ones you see around you. I usually enjoy my first cup of tea while I do this. HINT: Line your map up with physical features. This is easier with larger, linear ones, such as roads or rivers.
2 WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?
Map confidence develops fastest with really simple navigation. It won’t matter how far you walk or how high you climb, or even if you already know an area. What you’re looking for is a route with enough map features to make you think – but not so many that you get confused.
A. While you are still learning to navigate, you may prefer walking on waymarked footpaths or bridleways.
HINT: Increase your navigation confidence by selecting a route that includes plenty of features you can see on your map, such as boundaries, footpaths, trig pillars, footbridges and buildings.
B. When you first start map reading, your progress will be slower than usual, so choose a shorter route.
HINT: On your 1:25,000 map, one blue grid square represents 1km. If you weren’t stopping to map-read, on flat, easy terrain it would take around 15 minutes to walk 1km.
C. Choose a navigation feature as your destination. This could be any map symbol you like – but don’t forget to take a triumphant photo when you get there.
HINT: Thin black lines represent boundaries, which means that walls, fences, buildings or lumps that were once walls might all look the same on your map.
3 HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THERE?
Learning to read a map is easier if you start by navigating short distances, from one obvious feature to another. The three rules below will help with this.
A. Walk in a known direction
The best way to be sure you are walking in the right direction is to use a compass (see box on next page), but it is also possible to work out your direction using your map and the landscape in front of you. Here are a few tips to help.
• If you’re walking on a slope, you’ll be crossing brown contour lines.
• Close contour lines indicate a steep slope. • In the UK, the sun moves across the southern sky.
• North is at the top of your map.
• Natural waterways run downhill.
B. Walk a known distance
It’s surprisingly easy to get lost by walking too far in the right direction. The trick is to estimate how long each section should take you before you set off.
• Work out your approximate time to your next feature.
• Note your set-off time.
• If you don’t find the feature in your estimated time, stop and rethink. HINT: Remember that walking uphill or across rough terrain will slow you down.
C. Notice map features as you pass them
Paying attention to your map-reading tick list will really build your confidence with navigation.
• For each navigation section, make a mental list of things you’ll pass.
• Each time you spot a feature, check the map and give yourself a pat on the back. • If you don’t spot your expected features, stop and rethink.