So you want to stop following other people’s boots and read the map yourself. Good. A map reading course teaches you to turn the paper in your hand into the ground in front of you. You learn what the symbols mean, how to give a grid reference, how contour lines show the shape of a hill, how to set the map and follow a route, how long a leg will take, and finally where the compass fits in.
Can you learn that online? Most of it, yes. What a screen can’t do is stand next to you on a hillside and watch you get it wrong, so with an online course the practice outdoors is your job.
We’re going to walk through what a good map reading course covers, in the order it should be taught, then compare the three kinds of course you’ll find when you search: a day course near you, a free online course, and a structured online course. By the end you’ll know which one fits where you are now.
What do you learn on a map reading course?
The syllabus is pretty settled across the UK, whoever is teaching it. What separates a good course from a poor one is the order. Each skill leans on the one before it, and a course that jumps straight to the compass skips the part that keeps you on the right path.
Here’s the order I’d expect to see.
1. The map itself: symbols, scale and grid references
First of all, you learn what you’re looking at. The symbols for footpaths, walls, woods and water. The scale, so you know that a centimetre on a 1:25,000 OS Explorer map is 250 metres on the ground. And the blue grid lines, each square one kilometre across, which let you give a grid reference so someone else can find exactly where you are.
That last one matters more than it sounds. A six-figure grid reference, with the two grid letters in front (something like NY 342 151), is how you tell the emergency services where you are if you ever need to call 999 and ask for the police, then Mountain Rescue. Without the letters, the same six numbers turn up in every 100 km square in the country. If you want to try it now, our free grid reference practice tool lets you have a go on a map in your browser.
2. Contour lines: reading the shape of the ground
This is where map reading stops being a list of symbols and starts being a picture. Contour lines join points of equal height, and once you can read them you can see a hill, a valley, a ridge or a steep drop on a flat piece of paper.
Close together means steep. Far apart means gentle. A V pointing uphill is usually a stream valley, and a tight ring is a summit. It takes a bit of practice to see it, and then you can’t unsee it.
Our free contour lines tool lets you watch the contours build a hill as you move a slider, which is the quickest way I know to make it click.
Never Feel Lost Again: The Free UK Navigation & Safety Pack
Stop relying solely on a fragile phone battery. Download the exact tools a professional outdoor instructor uses to stay safe in the British hills.
Enter your email below to get instant access to:
- NEW: The Hike Planning & Safety Checklist: A comprehensive pre-walk checklist to ensure you never leave a critical item behind or rely purely on a smartphone.
- The Emergency Protocol Guide: A highly structured, zero panic system detailing exactly what to do if lost on Dartmoor/Scottish hills, including when and how to call Mountain Rescue.
- The OS Map & Navigation Cheat Sheet: A quick reference guide to decoding complex map symbols and plotting grid references when your mind goes blank.
- The Route Card Template: The exact, logic-driven framework I use to plan foolproof expeditions and identify safe escape routes before leaving the house.
- The Timing Crib Card: Never misjudge daylight again. Master the mathematics of measuring pacing distance and timings for steep ground.
3. Setting the map and following a route
Now we put the map to work. Setting the map (some people say orientating it) means turning it so the features on the paper line up with the features around you. North on the map points north on the ground. Suddenly the wall on your left is the wall on the left of the map, and you can see which path is yours.
From there you learn to follow a route using handrails (walls, streams and edges you can follow), checkpoints you tick off as you pass them, and attack points, the obvious feature you aim for before finding the small one you actually want. You’ll also meet catching features, the wall or stream beyond your target that tells you you’ve gone too far, and aiming off, where you deliberately aim to one side of something so you know which way to turn when you hit it.
4. Timing and distance
Here’s the deal. Knowing where you are depends on knowing how far you’ve come. A good course teaches you to measure a leg on the map, estimate how long it’ll take using Naismith’s rule, and count your paces so you know when the next feature should turn up.
If you want the maths, we’ve written up Naismith’s rule on its own.
5. The compass, and when you need it
Notice the compass comes fifth. That’s deliberate. On a clear day, on a decent path, a set map and good timing will get you almost everywhere. The compass earns its place when you can’t see the next feature, in cloud, across open moorland, or when a path disappears.
A course should teach you to set the map with it, take a bearing from the map, walk on that bearing, and check whether magnetic declination needs allowing for where you’re walking. It should also warn you that metal, like a phone or a wire fence, pulls the needle off. If you’re wondering whether you need one at all, this piece on whether you need a compass is a good place to start.
6. What to do when you don’t know where you are
Every course worth its fee finishes with relocation. Not if you get lost, but when you’re unsure. You learn STOP (stop, think, observe, plan), match what you can actually see to the map, and work your way back to a point you know. Better courses add proper techniques too, like using the direction a slope faces, or bearings to two landmarks you can identify.
This is the skill that turns a wobble into a five-minute pause instead of an afternoon of guessing.
In short, a map reading course should leave you able to plan a route, follow it, know where you are on it, and recover when you’re not sure. Anything less is a taster.
What are the three kinds of map reading course?
Search “map reading course” and you’ll find three quite different things on the first page. They’re not really competing. They do different jobs, and here’s how they line up.
| Day course near you | Free online course | Structured online course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it usually is | A day or two outdoors with an instructor | A few written lessons by email | A full sequence of video and written lessons |
| Practice on real ground | Yes, guided | Up to you | Up to you, with set exercises |
| Someone watching you | Yes | No | No |
| Tests and progress tracking | Sometimes an award at the end | Rarely | Usually |
| Go back over it before a walk | No, it’s one day | Yes | Yes |
| Travel and fixed dates | Yes | No | No |
| Typical cost | £95 to £200 tuition for two days, plus travel and a night away | Free | A one-off fee or a subscription |
A day course near you
This is the traditional route, and for good reason. An instructor takes a small group onto real ground and you practise with someone watching. If you hold your compass wrong or misread a contour, they see it and fix it on the spot. That instant correction is the one thing nothing else gives you.
Plenty of day courses also lead to a National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) award, which is useful if you want something formal. Bronze is the entry level, then Silver and Gold. You can find providers through the NNAS website. Mountain Training’s Hill Skills and Mountain Skills courses are the other recognised option.
Whoever you book, check the instructor holds a recognised qualification, such as Mountain Leader, or that the course is run by a registered NNAS provider.
The catch is everything around the day. A two-day UK navigation course usually costs £95 to £200 in tuition. Add travel, a night somewhere and two fixed days in your diary, and realistically you’re at £300 or more. You get it once. If the weather is grim on the weekend you booked, that’s the weekend you got.
A free online course
Some outdoor centres now run a free map reading course online, usually a handful of written lessons sent by email over a few weeks. They’re genuinely useful for picking up the vocabulary and the basic ideas, and they cost nothing.
What they don’t usually include is the bit that makes things stick. Video showing the skill being done, exercises to complete, a test at the end, a way to track where you’ve got to. Most are also the front door to the centre’s paid days out, which is fine, just worth knowing.
Ordnance Survey’s own free map reading guides sit in a similar place. Excellent reference, but a collection to dip into rather than a sequence.
A structured online course
This is the middle ground. A proper sequence of lessons you work through at your own pace, normally with video, written guides, practice exercises and quizzes, so you know you’ve understood each step before moving on.
The honest weakness is the same as the free option. Nobody is standing next to you. So a good online course gives you things to go and do outside, in a park first and then on a real walk, and expects you to do them.
The strength is that it doesn’t disappear after a weekend. You can go back over taking a bearing the night before a walk, which is exactly when most of us want a refresher.
Can you learn map reading online?
Yes, if you’re honest about which half you’re learning.
Map reading has two halves. The understanding is what contours mean, how a grid reference works, and why you set the map. The doing is matching the ground to the map on a wet afternoon when you’re tired.
Online is very good at the first half. Video lets you watch a bearing being taken as many times as you like, and an interactive tool can show contours building a hill in a way a page never could.
The second half only comes from going outside and doing it. That’s true whichever course you pick. A day course gives you a day of doing, and after that you’re on your own either way.
So the question isn’t really “online or not”. It’s whether you’ll do the practice. If you will, online gets you a long way. If you know you won’t do it unless someone’s there, book a day course.
We’ve gone into this properly in in-person vs online navigation courses, if you want the longer version.
What should a good map reading course include?
Whichever format you choose, here’s a quick checklist. Use it on our course too.
- A clear order. Map first, compass later. If the first lesson is the compass, be wary.
- Contour lines taught properly. They’re how you read the ground, and how you stay off the bits you don’t want to be on.
- Timing and distance. Not just where you are, but how far you’ve come.
- Relocation. What to do when you’re unsure. If it isn’t there, the course is incomplete.
- Practice you can actually do. Exercises for your local park, not just reading.
- A way to check yourself. Quizzes, a test, or an instructor’s eye.
- Honesty about what it can’t do. Any online course that claims to replace time on the hill isn’t being straight with you.
Map reading course near me, or online first?
“Map reading course near me” is the second most searched version of this, and it makes sense. You want someone local and a day outdoors.
What I’d recommend for most people is both, in the right order. Learn the understanding first, at home and at your own pace, so you’re not spending your first hour on the hill working out what a contour is. Then, if you want it, book a day with an instructor and spend it on the doing. You’ll get far more out of the day.
One cheap option people forget is your local orienteering club. It’s a low-pressure way to practise map reading on real ground, with people around who’ll help.
If you’re in Scotland, our guide to navigation courses in Scotland compares the options there.
Which map reading course is right for you?
Quick version.
- You want a certificate, or you learn best with someone beside you. Book a day course near you, ideally one leading to an NNAS award.
- You want to try it before spending anything. Start with a free online course or Ordnance Survey’s guides. Our own free Digital Safety Net course is a good first step too, though it’s about using your phone properly rather than the full map syllabus.
- You want the whole syllabus, in order, to go back over whenever you need it. Pick a structured online course, then practise outside.
Ours is the Mountain Navigation Course. It’s 47 lessons across six modules, from map symbols through contours, timing and the compass to relocation and navigating in poor visibility. It costs £97, paid once, and includes the £27 Emergency Protocol Course and the free Digital Safety Net course.
It won’t stand next to you on a hillside. It will tell you exactly what to go and practise.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you learn on a map reading course?
A good map reading course covers map symbols and scale, grid references, contour lines, setting the map, following a route with handrails and checkpoints, timing and distance using Naismith’s rule and pacing, the compass, and what to do when you’re unsure where you are. The order matters as much as the content. The map skills come first, and the compass comes once you can already follow a route on a clear day.
Can you learn map reading online?
You can learn the understanding online very well: what contours show, how grid references work, how to take a bearing. Video and interactive tools are often clearer than a page or a quick demo in the wind. What online can’t give you is someone watching you on real ground, so you have to do the practice yourself, starting in a local park and moving on to real walks.
How much does a map reading course cost?
A two-day in-person navigation course in the UK usually costs £95 to £200 in tuition, before travel and accommodation. Free online courses and Ordnance Survey’s guides cost nothing. Paid online courses vary, so check whether you pay once or every year, because that changes the real cost over a few seasons. Ours is £97, paid once.
Is a map reading course good for complete beginners?
Yes, that’s who most of them are for. A good beginners’ course starts with what the symbols mean and builds up from there, so you don’t need any experience. If you’re not sure where your gaps are, our free Nav Skills Quiz takes a couple of minutes and points you at the right starting place.
Do you get a certificate from a map reading course?
Some in-person courses lead to a National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) award, the national navigation award scheme for walkers in the UK. If a formal award matters to you, check that the course you book is run by a registered NNAS provider. A certificate matters if you’re heading towards leading groups. For most walkers, though, the real test is whether you can find your way on your next walk.
Not sure where to start?
If you’re not sure whether you need the basics or are ready for the compass, take our free Nav Skills Quiz. It takes a couple of minutes, shows you where your gaps are, and points you at the right starting place.
Then pick one thing from the syllabus above and go and practise it this week, even if it’s just setting the map in your local park. Ask any questions in the comments below.
