Map and Compass Course

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New to walking and just starting out?
Map and Compass
Peak Navigation Courses run a course just for you!

  “1st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation” is a course designed for the beginner or the person who has always left the navigation to others.  It takes you from the absolute basics and leaves you equipped to plan routes and navigate both through fields on paths and off path on easy moorland. This course can be combined with a 2nd day to achieve the Bronze (NNAS) National Navigation Award.



Map Reading Course
Map and Compass Course
Having the skills required to navigate using a map and compass gives you the freedom to move away from books of walks and to plan your own routes. An example of this is of Bamford Moor in the Peak District where I live. Here there are two stone circles and according to the map there are no paths leading to either of them. Peak Navigation Courses’ “Introduction to Moorland Navigation Course” will leave you equipped to plan and tackle such a route as this.

Basic map reading skills, using “hand rails and attack points” to get you close before setting your compass and walking on a bearing pacing the distance are all part of the course. The Introduction to Moorland Navigation Course is a 1 day part classroom based and part practical with time spent off path on open moorland.

Navigation Course
 Moving on a stage further, Peak Navigations “Intermediate Navigation Course” is a practical  1 day course spent entirely outdoors involving route planning and micro-navigation on Kinder Scout.

Putting the two courses together with a small amount of assessment it is possible to gain the Silver (NNAS) National Navigation Award.

Night Navigation Course

For those who can already navigate using a compass but wanting some “revision” Peak Navigation Courses run some “Navigation Master Classes” where we test out your existing skill levels and put you into scenarios at a level equivalent to Mountain Leader or Walking Group Leader. These days out are also designed to count as “Quality Days” for those undertaking qualifications




If you walk regularly in British hills there is always the possibility of being caught in the mist, blizzards or darkness. Peak Navigation Courses run an evening “Night Navigation Course” aimed at giving you confidence when navigating in poor visibility.  This is a 3 to 4 hour practical session aimed for experienced walkers and looks at the skills and strategies required for successful navigation across open moorland in poor visibility.

Peak Navigation Courses is owned and run by qualified International Mountain Leaders. Courses run from October through until June.

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