Knowing how to use a map and compass is a liberating experience. If you can invent your own routes and get away from the crowds with confidence, it will add an extra dimension to your experience of the great outdoors.

This comprehensive guide to navigation, using a map and compass as well as GPS and other technologies, will give you the confidence to do just that. Expert navigation coach Pete Hawkins shares his experience and practical tips to offer all readers the inspiration and information they need to get off the beaten track and explore the landscape for themselves.

This guidebook offers a wealth of knowledge to inexperienced map readers, with clear instruction on all the basic methods needed for effective navigation. However, the more technical aspects such as using a map in poor weather conditions and on unfamiliar terrain means that even accomplished navigators will find this book useful and informative.

The first part of the book looks in detail at the map, how to choose the right map for your activity and how to learn to pick out the features that are important and disregard the ones that are not. It then moves on to a range of techniques for using a compass to navigate in good conditions and bad, whatever the terrain and visibility. Also included are tips on using digital mapping and GPS and navigating abroad.

Pete Hawkins is also the author of the Cicerone mini-guide Navigation and Navigating with a GPS.