The Natural Navigator [Hardcover]

"The Natural Navigator is a wonderfully stimulating book. Tristan Gooley sidesteps technology to celebrate our own powers of observation, and suggests that the art of natural navigation is something we should never have forgotten."--Michael Palin

"The perfect book for getting you started on your own adventure"--Sir Ranulph Fiennes, adventurer and author of Race to the Pole

“This wonderful book takes the skill set back several generations . . . to the vanishing (but often surprisingly simple) arts of navigating by sun, moon, stars, and natural phenomena. . . . A must for any lover of the outdoors."--Tim Jepson, The Telegraph

"Gooley is a fine writer with a philosophical passion for the subject, and he occasionally veers into areas that are perhaps not strictly within the remit of the book, but these are effortlessly pleasant diversions that add to the whole. His timing is strong, with anecdotes dropped in at just the right intervals to keep you turning the pages. His advice is at times glorious in its simplicity and fascinating in its execution."--Laurence Mackin, The Irish Times

"A definitive volume on the subject."--Paul Gelder, Yachting Monthly

"In a sat-nav dominated world, where GPS and a host of other acronyms designed to get us from A to B have overtaken paper maps, it is refreshing to meet someone who understands technology, but prefers to find his way by practicing the rare and ancient art of using nature’s signposts, from puddle patterns to shadow lengths . . . I’m hooked. Back at the beech, I make a mental note of emerging bluebell patches, forming an internal map that I’ll use to find my way around the wood."--Paul Evans, BBC Wildlife Magazine

"As Gooley reminds us, navigation is, first of all, about understanding where you are. His marvellous book is a good starting point."--Mick Herron, Geographical Magazine

"Gooley’s calm, contemplative authority on matters solar, lunar and celestial establishes his guru credentials—but it’s his revelations about the clues that lie scattered about the natural environment that really entrance: how puddles drying on paths, the shapes of sand dunes, the graininess of scree on the lee of a slope can all be enlisted to summon compass points to your horizon."--Chris Born, Time Out London

"The best nature writing changes the way you experience the world. Tristan Gooley’s The Natural Navigator will teach you how to find your way using not just the moon, sun and stars but spider’s webs, tennis courts and even ruts on a track. He throws in entertaining anecdotes from the history of navigation and from his own impressive Atlantic journeys, but really he’s giving you an addictive hobby, and a newly refined sense of time and place."--Sunday Times

'The perfect book for getting you started on your own adventure' - Ranulph Fiennes

Get ready to put away your map and look up from your GPS with this glorious introduction to the art of finding your way using natural clues

Starting with a simple question - 'Which way am I looking?' - Tristan Gooley blends natural science, myth, folklore and the history of travel to introduce you to the rare and ancient art of finding your way using nature's own sign-posts, from the feel of a rock to the look of the moon.

With Tristan's help, you'll learn why some trees grow the way they do and how they can help you find your way in the countryside. You'll discover how it's possible to find North simply by looking at a puddle and how natural signs can be used to navigate on the open ocean and in the heart of the city. Wonderfully detailed and full of fascinating stories, this is a glorious exploration of a rediscovered art.

Winner of the National Trust Outdoors Books of the Year 2011

Put away your map and look up from your GPS. We are all natural navigators.

Starting with a simple question - 'Which way am I looking?' - Tristan Gooley blends natural science, myth, folklore and the history of travel to introduce you to the rare and ancient art of finding your way using nature's own sign-posts, from the feel of a rock to the look of the moon.

With Tristan's help, you'll learn why some trees grow the way they do and how they can help you find your way in the countryside. You'll discover how it's possible to find North simply by looking at a puddle and how natural signs can be used to navigate on the open ocean and in the heart of the city. Wonderfully detailed and full of fascinating stories, this is a glorious exploration of a rediscovered art.

Tristan Gooley set up his natural navigation school, The Natural Navigator, after studying and practising the art for over ten years. His passion for the subject stems from hands-on experience. He has led expeditions in five continents, climbed mountains in Europe, Africa and Asia, sailed across oceans and piloted small aircraft to Africa and the Arctic. He is the only living person to have both flown and sailed solo across the Atlantic. Tristan is a Fellow of both the Royal Institute of Navigation and the Royal Geographical Society and is the Vice Chairman of Trailfinders. He lives with his wife and two sons in West Sussex.