How to Tell North Without a Compass

North Star Method

• 1

  Find the Big Dipper. This constellation is visible in the Northern Hemisphere on any cloudless night and is made up of seven stars that roughly resemble a cup with a long handle. It is also called Ursa Major, or the Great Bear.

• 2

  Find Cassiopeia. This constellation is opposite the Big Dipper and is made up of five stars which make a loose sideways "W."

• 3

  Imagine a straight line extending through the stars that make up the outside of the "cup" in the Big Dipper, and another line that extends from Cassiopeia's middle star towards the Big Dipper. These two lines cross over the North Star. This star is also the last star on the handle of the Little Dipper.

• 4

  Place the North Star directly in front of you. You are now facing north.

Shadow Method - Quickest Version

• 5

  Push a long stick into the ground in a sunny place where it casts a shadow. The ground around it must be flat and free of debris that may cast competing shadows.

• 6

  Place a stone or other marker on the end of the shadow.

• 7

  Wait 10 to 20 minutes.

• 8

  Place a stone or other marker on the end of the new shadow that has formed as a result of the moving sun.

• 9

  Imagine a straight line between these two markers. This line runs approximately east to west, with its western end at the first marker and its eastern end at the second.

• 10

  Stand facing this east-west line with east at your right. You are now facing north.

Shadow Method - Most Accurate Version

• 11

  Push a long stick into the ground in the morning in a sunny place where it casts a shadow. The ground around it must be flat and free of debris that may cast competing shadows.

• 12

  Place a stone or other marker on the end of the shadow.

• 13

  Tie one end of a string onto the stick in the ground.

• 14

  Stretch the string to the marker, pulling it taut.

• 15

  Tie a pointed stick or other sharp object to the string at exactly the point where it meets the marker.

• 16

  Draw an arc in the ground with the sharp object on the end of the string.

• 17

  Wait until afternoon, when the shadow touches the opposite side of the arc.

• 18

  Draw a line between the first marker and the point at which the shadow of the stick crosses the arc. This is your east-west line.

• 19

  Stand facing this line with the second point, the eastern point, at your right. You are now facing north.

Watch Method

• 20

  Rotate the watch until the hour hand points towards the sun. Always hold the watch horizontally as you do this.

• 21

  Imagine an angle between the hour hand and the 12. (If Daylight Savings Time is in effect in your area, draw the angle between the hour hand and the one instead.)

• 22

  Imagine another line bisecting this angle. This is the north-south line. North is the direction furthest from the sun.