The ability to be able ti use maps and compasses correctly are an important scouting skill. If you want to go orienteering or walking in the hills or mountains, you need to be able to use a map and compass to know where you’re going! Especially if the weather turns or you are in an unfamiliar area, you to know where you are and how to get to where you are going!

Map Co-ordinates/Grid References

The first part of using a map is knowing the co-ordinates of your start point and destination. To find the grid reference of a point, you start with the Eastings (the vertical lines, listed at the top and bottom of the map) and then the Northings (the horizontal lines, listed on the left and right of the map) – one way to remember which way round to read them is with the phrase

Along the corridor and up the stairs.

For example, the 6 figure grid reference for the X below is 050 025:

Grid references can be more specific than the 6 figure reference above, but depend on the accuracy and size of the map. The more detailed the grid reference and the more accurate your navigation, the smaller the area in which you may need to search for an orienteering point!

Compass Bearings

Whilst maps can be used without a compass if, for example, they are a road map. However, in order to properly orientate the map for use in other areas, such as in the hills, we need to use a compass.

In order to take a bearing, you need to line up your compass on your map with the direction of travel arrow between the two points and line up the map’s north with the compass’ and the orienting lines. We can then follow the direction arrow by the bearing – the number of degrees from North, shown at the edge of the compass housing next to the direction arrow (eg. in the image above, the bearing would be 90 degrees and in the image below, around 60 degrees), being sure that we’re going in the right direction by keeping the compass needle pointing at north.