Planning a Route with Grid References and Bearings

Start with a Route Card, Not a Rough Idea

A rough line on a map is a hope, not a plan. Before you leave the car park, write a route card. It needn’t be fancy: a sheet of A6 paper, a pencil, and a zip-lock bag will do. The act of writing forces you to read the map properly. You notice the steep ground, the path that fades, the wall that runs the wrong way. In the Yorkshire Dales, where drystone walls and limestone scars can look identical in mist, that preparation is everything.

Your route card should turn a whole day into a series of short, checkable legs. Each leg begins at a definite point—a grid reference you can find—and ends at another. Between them, you write down exactly what you expect to see and how you will know if you have gone wrong.

Break the Day into Legs

Work through the route leg by leg. For each one, note the following on your card:

• Start and end grid references – six figures where possible, such as SD 812 771. Six figures pin you down to 100 metres.
• Bearing – the direction from start to end, measured on the map and adjusted for magnetic variation before you set the compass.
• Distance – in metres or kilometres, measured along your intended line, not as the crow flies if the path bends.
• Height gain or loss – useful for estimating time and effort, especially on repeated climbs out of a dale.
• Estimated time – use Naismith’s rule: allow one hour for every five kilometres, plus one minute for every ten metres of ascent. Add extra for bog, scree, or a heavy pack.
• Features to expect – a gate, a cairn, a stream junction, a wall corner, a change in vegetation.
• Escape options – a footpath leading down to a road, a bothy, or a straightforward reverse bearing.

Keep each leg short—ideally under a kilometre in poor visibility. Short legs mean small mistakes stay small.

Use Handrails to Keep You Honest

A handrail is any linear feature you can follow with your hand, your feet, or your eyes. In the Dales, that might be a drystone wall, a beck, a fence line, a forestry boundary, or the edge of a scar. Handrails are not cheating; they are smart navigation. If you can walk along a wall instead of pacing across open moor, do it.

On your route card, note which handrails you intend to use and on which side they should be. For example: “Follow wall on left for 400 metres, then leave at the corner.” That single sentence could save you an hour in mist. It also gives you a clear recovery plan: if you lose the wall, you know which way to turn to find it again.

Remember that handrails can mislead. A wall may have a gap, a beck may split, a fence may turn unexpectedly. So always confirm the handrail against your bearing, distance, and timing. Use it as a guide, not a substitute for the compass.

Identify Attack Points for the Final Approach

An attack point is a deliberate, easy-to-find feature from which you make a short, precise bearing to your target. Summits, tarns, and tiny path junctions are notoriously hard to hit directly in mist. Instead, aim for something obvious nearby—a stream bend, a large boulder, a wall corner—then attack the final 100 or 200 metres.

Mark your attack points on the route card. For instance, if you are heading for the summit of a fell, your attack point might be the top of a broad ridge or a particular cairn. From there, take a fresh bearing and pace out the distance. Count your paces: most adults take about 65 double-paces per 100 metres on flat ground, fewer uphill. Practise on a known stretch of path to find your own count.

Practise on a Dales Classic

Try this on a familiar route, such as the path up Ingleborough from Clapham, or a circuit around Malham Tarn. Write the route card at home. Then walk it, checking each leg as you go. Did you find the gate you expected? Did the bearing take you to the wall corner? If not, why not? Adjust your card for next time. The goal is not to follow a script blindly, but to build a habit of thinking ahead.

Once you trust your card, try a short section at dusk. Use your headtorch, keep the map in a case, and navigate by bearing and distance alone. You will quickly learn how much information you can gather from sound, slope, and the feel of the ground underfoot.

When Mist Descends or the Light Fails

Mist and darkness reduce navigation to its essentials: compass, map, timing, pacing, and your route card. If visibility drops, stop. Put on extra layers, eat something, and reorientate. Find your last confirmed point. Then follow your card leg by leg, ticking off each one.

Use your watch. If a leg should take 18 minutes, and 25 have passed, you have overshot or drifted. Turn back to your last certain feature. In darkness, handrails become even more valuable—follow a wall or fence rather than striking out across open ground. Keep your compass flat and away from metal objects. And always carry a spare headtorch or batteries. The Dales are lovely in the dark, but only if you know where you are.