To elaborate, I have no interest in orienteering competitions or even going off trail at this point (maybe sometime in the future). For now, I'm more interested in making sure I'm on the correct trail, as marked on a map, in a small(ish) wilderness area. I'm planning to take my first overnight hike in the Caney Creek area (thank you for the suggestion Slowfoot) at some point in the fall, and the description on Ouachitamaps.com says there's a few side trails that aren't on the map, even a place or two where the main trail appears to go straight but really turns.

Plus, the first two items on the ten essentials list are a map and compass. If I'm going to carry them, I should have at least a preliminary understanding of how to use them. I'm not completely clueless. I know my compass points and can navigate a car using a road map, and I've found a few geocaches (GPS assisted), but I thought I should know the basics about wilderness navigating just to make sure I'm on the right trail. But, all of the articles about navigating assume you have a nice compass, and I was hoping to use what I have, if I can make it work.

That's some really cool looking terrain.

It looks like on this map that it's about a 9-10 mile loop. I doubt you'll have much trouble there.

I wouldn't expect many trails not shown on your map. You might see some game trails and few lessor used spur trails, but the main trails and forks in them should be pretty easy to know.

When you're down on the creek trail there you really can't get lost. If I did this trip I'd probably start with the creek trail and take the Buckeye Trail out, but I'd be very tempted to do an out and back along the creek. I'd have to decide once I was there. That looks like it might be pretty darn nice down in there and if it was I might have to hang out there as long as I could get away with it, and I wouldn't feel bad about it either.

That was the only map I could find, too.

Keep in mind, I overkill map preparation and compass use. I'll try to present it in a way that's easy enough to follow. This might take a couple weeks. Most people follow trails without using a compass, so if you aren't interested, let me know. I've never seen anyone but me take out a compass on the trail. I only use a compass myself when I feel like practicing compass navigation.

While you are waiting for your map, you can learn how to prepare a map so you can do it quickly when you get it.

First, let's talk about compasses. If all you are looking for is to make sure you don't go south instead of north, then a button compass is fine. The next step up is an inexpensive compass with the degrees marked on the outer ring. These can often take a long time for the needle to settle down. The next step up has a rectangular base plate with some measurements on the side. To determine your magnetic heading, you have to face the direction of the trail and rotate a dial so the north side of the needle is under a north arrow.

An inexpensive Brunton compass will work. You can usually find them under 10 dollars in the box stores.

The next step is a compass with a rotating dial. This eliminates most sighting errors because you don't have to remember to put the north part of the needle over the north arrow.

All of these compasses have sighting errors. Even if the compass is accurate, most people will have an error of 5 to 10 degrees with this type of compass.

A compass without some sort of rectangular baseplate is almost useless for planning a hike, so I recommend you at least get that.

The best compasses are lensatic compasses or mirror compasses. I'm only familiar with the lensatic compasses. The Cammenga 27 is a military compass and will last a lifetime with reasonable care. It uses some sort of magnetic dampening for the dial. It will work even if not completely level. You can get them from Amazon for $39.99. This is the only type compass of the ones I've mentioned that is suitable for triangulation from distant points. You can get Chinese imitations for about $10 to $15. These are lower quality and eventually the dial will start to stick.

The lensatic compasses are great for people who wear glasses. The lens will compensate for eye problems depending on where you put your eye relative to the lens.

Since you mentioned you don't want to spend too much money on a compass, I'd recommend something with a rectangular baseplate. I'll be using a Brunton type 7 compass for the examples. You should be able to get a similar compass for around $10.

Let me know when you get a compass, and then I can go to the next post.

Oh, one last thing. Make sure your belt buckle doesn't affect the compass. Same thing with the cell phone and anything else you carry in your pockets.

I thought it looked really nice too, but, I was thinking of hiking it in the opposite order.

when do you plan to be in the brecksville to findley state park area of buckeye trail?

I've hiked the same loop the same way you plan to. The trailheads are well-marked and there are signs at both. There were a couple spots where we weren't sure which way to go, where the trail was not obvious or there was an intersection not on the map, but we figured it out and eventually found trail markers to confirm. If you know approximately where you are on the map, you can usually figure out which way the trail goes. A button compass is fine almost all the time in Arkansas. You can't do much triangulation anyway and the declination is close to 0.