Wilderness Navigator | Boulder Outdoor Survival School

Discover the Art of Wilderness Navigation

The 14-Day Navigator Course at BOSS is the ultimate test of backcountry navigation skills, offering our most challenging and immersive map-and-compass experience. It equips you with the advanced skills needed to read the land, use a map and compass, and plan routes through some of the most rugged terrain in Southern Utah. This course will teach you the art of backcountry navigation, all while embracing BOSS’s low-impact, minimalist approach to wilderness travel. You'll not only learn to find your way but also to see the land with new eyes—understanding its patterns, challenges, and natural routes.

The Challenge

This is a physically and mentally demanding course that requires both focus and endurance. Some days will be mostly stationary, others you will hike long distances—sometimes 10 or more miles in a single day—while navigating through canyons, mesas, and mountains. As you gain confidence with your navigation skills, you’ll be responsible for guiding your group through increasingly difficult terrain. The course culminates with a three-day solo navigation challenge, where you’ll travel alone using only your map, compass, and the skills you’ve acquired. Because of the mental demands of this course, the Wilderness Navigator is one of the few courses at BOSS where you’re allowed to take a modern pack.

What to Expect

The 14-Day Navigator Course at BOSS combines advanced map and compass techniques with low-impact wilderness travel. You’ll learn to navigate through rugged backcountry while refining your skills in wilderness travel and orienteering. Over the course of two weeks, you’ll gradually take on more navigation responsibility, culminating in a solo navigation challenge.

Prerequisites

• Open to anyone with a desire to learn wilderness navigation. No previous BOSS course is required is required, but students should come prepared for the physical and mental demands of extended wilderness travel.

• A physical examination and physician approval are required before enrollment.

• Students must be at least 18 years old.

• Participants must complete a timed 1.5-mile run during course orientation.

Food - Enjoy standard rations every day to fuel you through your journey.

Travel - Short hikes while learning, then longer group hikes, culminating in a challenging solo orienteering journey.

Shelter - Bring a modern pack and spend nights in poncho shelters and natural and pre-built primitive shelters where available.

Bushcraft Skills in Community - Rely on yourself and skills learned in a mulit-day solo travel through the wilderness.