Introduction
Join us for a beginners’ navigation course or GPS navigation course in the Lake District and you will learn the golden rule of map reading – and much more besides.
Booking and Prices
If you’d like to know more about our beginners’ navigation and map reading courses in the Lake District, then see our main page for more details and prices or see what our clients say about us.
When you are ready, then get in touch to make an enquiry or a booking.
We also run beginners’ navigation courses in Snowdonia and the Yorkshire Dales.
You can read our article with lots of tips on how to improve your map reading and navigation skills.
Beginner’s Navigation Course in the Lake District
A beginners’ navigation course or GPS course in the Lake District is ideal for anyone who is terrified by map reading or thinks that they simply can’t do it. The emphasis is on demystifying the whole subject and making it accessible to everyone. Simple language. Simple concepts. Everyday comparisons. In addition, we have a whole ‘toolbox’ of techniques and tips to help you to understand in a way that makes sense to you.
On a beginners’ course, we emphasise the foundation blocks for all successful navigation. You will learn all about these and get plenty of practice:
- Matching the map to the surrounding ground, with and without the use of a compass.
- Understanding your ‘journey’ – the details about where you are going.
- Interpreting the shape of the land – are you going on the flat, uphill or downhill (and how steeply).
- Measuring distances on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground.
- What to do if you think you are lost.
- How to use a dedicated GPS navigation device (such as a Garmin).
- How to use a mobile phone with GPS for navigation.
As with many things, you don’t need to learn or even understand everything on Day One. You just need to know enough. Once you have practised what you have learned and it is becoming embedded, then it’s time to move again. This is how the courses are structured. They give you the opportunity to learn progressively at your own pace, regardless of what others might be doing.
