True North & Magnetic Declination - A Trick to Make it Stick

--> True North & Magnetic Declination - A Trick to Make it Stick Magnetic declination is an essential principle to understand when navigating your way through the wilds with map and compass.

Yet it's a tricky thing to remember, at least the way it has traditionally been taught, using an addition / subtraction method. Just when you think you've grasped it, the concept floats away, like fog in the morning light.

Well there is a simple, practical approach to adjusting for magnetic declination when finding your bearings. The whole explanation begins with a definition of 'north."

There are 2 Norths

A lot of people know that there are 2 norths in terms of maps and compasses. A map shows true north, or the Geographic North Pole where all lines of longitude meet. The earth rotates around an imaginary axis that runs through the North and South Poles.

A compass needle points to magnetic north, which is determined by the earth's magnetic field. The location of magnetic north moves over time, at about 5 miles per hour. Right now it is slowly creeping around somewhere NW of Hudson's Bay in Canada, about 450 miles away from true north.

Magnetic Declination

The angular difference between true north and magnetic north is known as "declination," or "variation" in the aviation world. Declination is different for different parts of the globe. In Washington State, the angle of declination is 20