Learn to read the landscape, trust your instincts and find your way with confidence!
Ever looked at a topographic map and wondered what on earth all those squiggly lines mean? Or carried a compass in your pack because you know you should have one… but secretly hoped you’d never actually need to use it?
This practical two-day navigation workshop is designed to change that.
Whether you’re keen to become a more confident and capable hiker, prepare for a multi-day adventure, explore beyond familiar trails or simply build skills that could help you make better decisions in the bush, we’ll take navigation out of the too-hard basket and make it practical, approachable and surprisingly fun.
Across two jam-packed days, you’ll learn how to use a topographic map and compass together, understand the landscape around you and develop the skills to answer three pretty important questions: Where am I? Where do I want to go? And how do I get there?
From following trails to understanding them:
Good navigation is about much more than following a little blue dot on your phone. It’s about noticing the shape of the land. Understanding where that valley leads. Recognising a ridgeline on a map and then spotting it in front of you. Estimating how long a section should take. Knowing when something doesn’t quite feel right — and having the skills to work out why.
Over the weekend, we’ll strip navigation back to the foundations and gradually build your confidence through hands-on exercises, practical challenges and plenty of opportunities to ask questions. And yes, there is absolutely such a thing as getting temporarily confused while learning navigation. In fact, that’s kind of the point!
Day 1 | Maps, Compasses & Making Sense of the Squiggly Lines
Our first day is all about building strong foundations. We’ll get familiar with topographic maps and learn how to interpret the information they contain, from contour lines and grid references to scale, distance and landscape features.
There’ll be plenty of practical exercises throughout the day, because navigation makes a whole lot more sense when you actually do it rather than just talk about it. By the end of Day 1, those mysterious lines, numbers and symbols should start looking less like hieroglyphics and more like a story about the landscape.
See the Itinerary tab below for more details.
Day 2 | Take It Into the Bush
Now we put it all into practice. Heading into the beautiful WA bush, we’ll leave the classroom behind and start connecting what you see on the map with what you can actually see — and feel — beneath your boots!
Through a series of practical navigation exercises, you’ll practise using your map and compass together, identifying landscape features, taking bearings, estimating distance and working out exactly where you are.
We’ll work through realistic scenarios and navigation challenges designed to get you thinking rather than simply following the person in front of you. Because the goal isn’t to teach you to follow us. It’s to teach you how to find your own way.
See the Itinerary tab below for more details.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is ideal for hikers and outdoor adventurers who have little or no experience using traditional map and compass navigation, as well as those who have learned the basics before but want to refresh their skills and build greater confidence.
You might be:
- Getting into hiking and wanting to build your bush skills
- Preparing for your first overnight or multi-day hike
- Keen to tackle more remote or less-defined trails
- Interested in becoming less reliant on phone-based navigation
- Looking to refresh navigation skills you haven’t used in years
- Wanting to feel more confident making decisions in the bush
- Simply curious about maps, landscapes and finding your own way
You don’t need any previous navigation experience. Bring your curiosity, your sense of adventure and a willingness to get a little geographically challenged while you learn!
More Than Just Finding North
Navigation is one of those wonderful outdoor skills that changes the way you experience the bush. Once you begin understanding maps and reading the landscape, you start noticing things differently.
A hill becomes a contour pattern. A creek line becomes a handrail. A saddle becomes a useful checkpoint. A ridgeline becomes something you can identify both beneath your feet and on the map in your hands.
Most importantly, you become a more capable and independent adventurer.
You won’t leave after two days as an expedition navigator — navigation is a skill strengthened through practice — but you will leave with a strong foundation, practical experience and a much better understanding of how to continue developing your skills.
Join Caro Ryan from Lotsafreshair and Tracy Jones from OTBT for two days of learning, exploring, problem-solving and getting hands-on with one of the most valuable skills any hiker can have. Because adventure gets a whole lot bigger when you have the confidence to find your own way.
Off The Beaten Track WA is an award-winning, fully accredited Western Australian tourism business, delivering high-quality guided hiking and adventure experiences. Our trained Lead Guides and Support Guides are there to support you every step of the way, carrying two-way communication devices and a personal location beacon when mobile coverage is limited. Fully licensed and insured, we focus on creating safe, well-run and genuinely memorable experience out on the trail.
