Navigating using nature’s clues is a rewarding way to explore the countryside. Here’s how to ditch the GPS and nurture a more engaging bond with nature.
How to navigate the countryside phone-free
Paint a picture in your mind
Many people rely on GPS apps to explore new landscapes, but with natural navigation you harness clues from the sun, land, plants, weather and animals instead – especially handy if your phone fails. Before your next outdoor adventure, study maps to build a mental blueprint of the terrain you will be exploring, including any hills, rivers and place names. And pack a compass, map and phone to verify the natural clues you spot as you hone your new navigational skills.
Read the land
“In natural navigation, nothing is random,” says Tristan Gooley, author of The Natural Navigator and The Secret World of Weather. Identify key landscape features and consider the forces that shaped them. For example, south-facing slopes in the Northern Hemisphere experience a wider range of temperatures resulting in greater erosive forces, so typically have milder gradients than north-facing slopes. “See the crops on the south face and the farm animals on the shady north – that’s a compass too,” adds Gooley.
Find the river's flow
“A navigator’s joke is: nine times out of 10, a river will lead, if not to your home, then to somebody else’s,” says Gooley. Historically, settlements needed to be near water, so rivers are like roads. “If you know there’s a river that flows down to the village you want to go to, find the river and you have a ‘handrail’: a line that will lead you dependably where you want to go.”
Look to the skies
For reliable directional clues, look skywards. “North of the tropics, the sun is due south at midday,” says Gooley. “It rises in the east and it sets in the west. But remember it rises closer to north-east in midsummer and south-east in winter.”
At night, look for the North Star for guidance. Or use a crescent moon: “In northern latitudes, if you draw a line between the horns of the crescent and extend that line to the horizon, you get a rough idea of south.”
Use your senses
Practise sharpening all your senses to environmental clues. “A fun exercise is to identify your first sense of being near a coast,” says Gooley. Is it the smell of salt air? The feel of the sea breeze? The sight of coast-tolerant trees such as junipers and sycamores? Or the glint of white caps on field ridges – evidence of the high local salt content?
Study trees
Trees are beautiful natural compasses. “As trees search for sunlight, there are typically more branches on the south side than on the north [in the Northern hemisphere], branches are closer to horizontal on the south and vertical on the north side, and leaves are smaller and lighter on the south side and bigger and darker on the north side,” says Gooley. Try to identify different varieties, too. “You might notice willows near water or beech trees in drier soil.”
Follow the wind
The prevailing UK winds are usually south-westerly, blowing warm, moist air across the Atlantic Ocean, so you can look for treetops that have been combed into distinctive tick shapes by this natural south-westerly force. Even puddles can help you follow the wind: note how plant matter is blown towards a puddle’s north-east corner. Wind also offers vital weather updates: “If you notice a sudden change in the wind direction, that is a harbinger of a changing weather front – and an imminent storm,” warns Gooley.
Explore hedgerows
“Hedges are never the same on two sides,” explains Gooley. You will find bigger berries on sunnier southern sides, and, in the UK, more fallen leaves accumulating on the south-west (windward) side. Colourful lichens are also waymarkers: “The brighter the lichens, the more light they have harvested from sunlight so the more likely they will be on the south side of a hedge.”
Learn from wildlife
British wildlife is a navigator’s friend. Observe how a bird may hover against the prevailing south-westerly wind. “That bird is a wind vane,” says Gooley. “If four to five hours later, you notice birds hovering in a different direction, there’s a weather change on its way and a storm is likely.” Search for clues on the ground, too: “If you see a footprint of a web-footed bird, you’re getting near water.”
Check out the clouds
Despite their infinite variety, clouds are never random. “Cumulus clouds, those ‘fluffy sheep’ clouds, are a sign of warm, rising air and thermals – and that has to be caused by something,” explains Gooley. So you will find them congregating over dark woodlands which heat up in the sun; over hills because hills force the air to rise; and over towns because they’re warmer. “If you’re walking in a new area, a cumulus cloud can indicate a hidden wood, hill or town you can’t see,” says Gooley. “Clouds are a map in the sky.”
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Top image: hiker at Stanage Edge, Derbyshire. Credit: Getty