> Skip to content
  • Published: 20 August 2020
  • ISBN: 9780753557983
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $32.99

The Natural Navigator




Put down your phone, fold away your map and pick up the tenth anniversary edition of Tristan Gooley's seminal guide to navigating with nature

**From the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of THE WALKER'S GUIDE TO OUTDOOR CLUES AND SIGNS and HOW TO READ WATER**

'Changes the way you experience the world' -- Sunday Times
'Wonderfully stimulating' -- Michael Palin

Discover the lost art of reading nature's own signposts with this beautiful tenth anniversary edition of The Natural Navigator.

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 forgotten art of finding your way using nature's clues, from the feel of a rock to the look of the moon.

Using Tristan's expert insight and anecdotes, you'll develop a unique insight into the world around you. From learning why some trees grow the way they do and how they can help you find your way in the countryside, to discovering 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 or in the heart of the city. Wonderfully detailed and full of fascinating stories, this is the seminal guide to the rediscovered art of natural navigation.
The Natural Navigator is user-friendly, practical and packed with beautiful illustrations to help natural navigators on their instrument-free journey. Beautifully repackaged, this edition includes a new tenth anniversary preface from the author, celebrating ten years of this seminal guide to nature.

  • Published: 20 August 2020
  • ISBN: 9780753557983
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 320
  • RRP: $32.99

About the author

Tristan Gooley

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.

Also by Tristan Gooley

See all

Praise for The Natural Navigator

The perfect book

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

You enjoy the walk more if you're trying to spot the little clues rather than look at the map

Evan Davies

Gooley is a fine writer with a philosophical passion for the subject ... his advice is at times glorious in its simplicity and fascinating in its execution ... his advice is so well structured that even enthusiastic amateurs will find plenty to get to grips with

Laurence Mackin, Irish Times

Wonderful... This is the sort of charming and inspiring book you want to recommend and buy for others. A must for any lover of the outdoors

Tim Jepson, Daily Telegraph

Wonderfully stimulating

Michael Palin

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

The Sunday 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

This in-depth book gives us the tools to re-engage with our natural world in a clear and understandable way. I love it!

Bear Grylls