Improve Your Map Reading: Five Simple Steps

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Do you want to improve your map reading? If so, you are not alone. Whilst map reading is widely recognised as an important outdoor skill, it rarely attracts as much attention as campfires, knives and axes!.

Moreover, even a cursory look at some of the UK Mountain Rescue incident statistics indicate that poor skills around map reading and navigation is a cause of many callouts.

Where To Improve Map Reading Skills?

If you conjure up a mental picture of somebody navigating you probably summon up a romantic image of somebody halfway up a mountain, deep in a tropical jungle, in the middle of an arid desert or perhaps on a freezing polar ice cap.

Silhouette of a person map reading in the mountains.
A romantic image of navigation…

Whilst all of those environments would definitely require sound navigation skills, in truth, they’re the worst place to learn foundational map reading skills.

In my opinion, the best place to start to acquire good map reading skills is much closer to home – your own doorstep in fact!

Image of a front door mat with "home sweet home" on it
You can work on your navigation skills just beyond your own doorstep…

Let’s look at this in a bit more detail.

You know your local area.

It’s safe, you can’t really get lost. (That’s an observation, not a challenge!).

You can focus on the map as opposed to where you’re going.

You can develop core map reading skills, almost at the drop of a hat, with very little time required.

If you’re a newcomer to map reading and are keen to dive into this fascinating subject or perhaps you’re keen to dust off the cobwebs here are five simple steps to help you get started.

How To Improve Map Reading Skills?

Step 1 – Get A Detailed Map Of Your Local Area

Obtain a map of your local area which shows your own home. Each country has its own mapping providers so you’ll need to do some local research. If you’re located in the UK then you can search for your local area map via the Ordnance Survey site. I would recommend looking at a map with a scale of 1:25,000 as it provides you with a large area to explore but with sufficient detail to help you better understand how a map works.

Step 2 – Find Your Position On The Map

Take some time to identify your own home on the map and place a small circle around it.

Step 3 – Relate Your Local Area To The Map

Step outside, take a few steps from your door and then look around….. what can you see? Try and match what you see in the real world with the information on the map, even if it’s as simple and obvious as your neighbours house, the road that passes your home, a road junction, roundabout or even a shopping centre.

Local neighbourhood in suburban Britain.

If you manage that, give yourself a pat on the back as you’ve just related the ground to the map, an incredibly important navigation technique – well done!

Step 4 – Walk A Familiar Route With The Map

Once you’ve exhausted what you can observe from your doorstep it’s time to take a little walk…

Walk a route that is familiar to you. Perhaps it’s a journey to your local shop, the school run route or your dog’s favourite walk. As you’re walking this route slow down and take stock of what’s around you and what that looks like on the map.

How is that road junction shown on the map?

Road junction in the UK
What does this look like on the map?

How are the trees in my local park represented on the map?

Tree-lined edge of municipal park land
What does this park look like on the map?

What do these farm fields look like on the paper map?

cornfield in the United Kingdom
How are fields represented on your map?

Is there anything you can see on the ground that you can’t see on the map? Why might that be?

House building site in the United Kingdom.
It takes a while for mapping to catch up with new additions to the landscape.

Step 5 – Take New Local Routes Using The Map

Plan to walk a different local route, but this time use the map as your primary method. Use the map to predict what you’re going to see or find along the route.

Does the map suggest you’ll be in a built up or open area or a mixture of both?

Image of some Ordnance Survey mapping with the word "Castell"

Which parts of your route will be uphill, downhill or flat?

UK mapping with contour lines and other features

What can you expect to see on your left and right?

UK mapping with a river and the text "Vale of Conwy"

What general direction will you be heading in, North, South, East or West?

British Ordnance Survey paper map sheet, laid out on the ground

I’m willing to bet that if you’re a newcomer to this subject and you’ve undertaken the five map reading steps above then you’ve learned something along the way. The the ‘dark art’ of map reading may no longer seem as inaccessible as it used to – welcome to the club!

How Can I Further Improve?

So where do you go from here to further improve your map reading?

Well, the best place to go is back through Steps 3-5, but this time change your routes, wander further afield, perhaps visit some areas that you’re unfamiliar with but are still relatively safe and close to home, all the time with the map in your hand!

By taking these small but important first steps into the world of map reading and navigation you’ll be building a solid foundation for further techniques to be added in the future.

Once you’ve walked a few routes let me know in the comments below what you discovered about your local area? What did you learn from the map or the exercise itself?

Keep your eyes peeled for a future blog post in which I’ll offer some help and guidance for getting started with using a compass.

Want Some In-Person Map Reading Training?

Move from novice to navigator with our 2-day Navigation 101 course.

Jump in with both feet with our comprehensive 6-day Wilderness Wayfinder course.

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Craig was a long-time student of Frontier Bushcraft, then became a member of the team in 2020. Craig had a 16-year career in the British Army before moving to civilian life. Craig holds the Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor awards and has undertaken the International and Winter Mountain Leader training programmes. Craig now lives on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park where he continues to make the most of the great outdoors, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in his younger days!

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