Reading sheep tracks and cairns: practical route-finding cues for crossing featureless upland bogs

Empty, undulating peat can feel like an ocean when you're standing on it — one that offers few landmarks and many soft, treacherous sinks. Over the years I've learned that the landscape often leaves clues if you know where to look: a faint sheep-track, an old cairn, a line of tussocks, or the way water runs over the bog. These small signs can be the difference between a confident crossing and a wet, disoriented slog. Below I share practical, experience-based guidance on reading sheep tracks and cairns for route-finding across featureless upland bogs, balanced with safety and conservation considerations.

Why sheep tracks and cairns matter

Sheep tracks are made by repeated, purposeful movement across the land. Cairns, whether ancient boundary markers or informal piles added by walkers, are human signals of direction or place. Both are invaluable in areas where contour lines on a map don't translate into visible features underfoot. I use them as supplements to map-and-compass navigation and GPS, not as a replacement. They provide rhythm and local logic to route-finding: where animals and people have crossed before is often where the ground is firmer, drier, or at least passable.

How to recognise reliable sheep tracks

Not every faint line is worth following. Over time I've developed a checklist I run through when I spot tracks:

Consistency: A reliable track has regular, repeatable steps and often continues beyond a single outcrop or patch. If it peters out into random hoofprints, it's probably an animal fraying off-course.

Depth and erosion: Tracks that are clearly eroded into a shallow trench indicate heavy use and sometimes a hard-packed route beneath. However, deep trenches can collect water and be unstable.

Direction relative to slope: Sheep prefer lines that avoid steeper gradients where possible. Tracks that follow a contour generally offer easier travel than those that head straight up or down.

Vegetation wear: Trackways often have flattened or cropped vegetation — moss and heather with a different texture or colour — which can be visible from a short distance.

When I find a track, I pause and look back along it to see whether it leads toward a distinct feature (stream, wall, gully, cairn) or is simply a local foraging path. If it connects to a known feature on my map, it's a sign of reliability.

Reading cairns: heritage and human intent

Cairns come in many flavours: ancient burial or boundary markers, shepherds' waypoints, or modern stacks from hopeful walkers. Sorting these out matters:

Old cairns are often substantial, stable and sited on high points or obvious angles in the landscape. They usually indicate a long-standing line of travel or a boundary.

Shepherds' cairns tend to be modest, sometimes placed at bends, natural squeezes through drystone walls, or where paths cross. They can mark routes across otherwise featureless peat.

Recent cairns are often small and sometimes placed in unlikely spots by well-meaning visitors. They may not point to a good line and can encourage erosion.

When I reach a cairn I ask: does it align with a navigational intention on my map? Does it sit above ground that looks firm? If a cairn sits alone on spongy peat with no logical continuation on the map, I treat it cautiously and look for corroborating signs — other cairns, tracks, or earthworks.

Practical steps for using tracks and cairns safely

Use the following workflow I use on bog crossings:

Confirm your position with map and compass first. Identify checkpoints you can see or expect to find — a stream confluence, a wall end, a distinct knoll.

Look for a combination of cues: sheep tracks that align with contours, cairns that point toward mapped features, and the flowlines of vegetation or water.

Test the ground before committing: probe with a walking pole or staff, step cautiously to check firmness, and avoid obvious depressions that may hide deep bog pools.

Keep your bearings. If you choose to follow a track, glance at your compass at intervals and plot a bearing to a distant checkpoint. Don't let a track remove your wider situational awareness.

Be ready to abandon a track. Sheep sometimes detour to graze or avoid wet patches; if a line leads you into uncertainty, reorient and choose an alternate bearing.

Kit and tech that help

My pack always contains tools that complement track-and-cairn reading:

Paper map (OS Explorer or Landranger) and a reliable compass — the fundamental pair.

A handheld GPS or watch with offline mapping (I use a Garmin inReach/Edge for long trips). These confirm positions quickly when tracks mislead.

Lightweight walking poles for probing peat and keeping balance; a pole can save you from two extra hours of wet boots.

Gaiters and waterproof boots (I favour Meindl or Scarpa for upland use) to cope with sodden ground.

Interpreting common bog cues

Feature	What it usually means
Sheep track following contour	Safer, well-used route; likely firmer ground
Series of small cairns along a line	Purposeful route marking — often a shepherds' path or boundary walk
Network of random hoofprints	Local grazing area, not useful for cross-country navigation
Vegetation banding (sedge/tussock changes)	Indicates wetter versus drier ground — skirt the wet bands
Old drystone wall or fence line	Reliable linear feature; follow to reach a gate or track

Conservation and low-impact ethics

Crossing peatlands carries responsibility. Peat stores carbon and supports specialised wildlife; trampling and creating new paths accelerates erosion. I try to:

Follow existing tracks and avoid making fresh lines across open bog.

Use established cairns rather than building new ones; adding stones can disturb archaeology and encourage further erosion.

Stick to firmer ground where possible and limit group size when passing sensitive areas.

On Borderhike Co. I write often about peatland restoration and the importance of staying on durable surfaces. If you see damage, consider reporting it to the relevant land manager or conservation body rather than trying to “fix” it yourself with more stones.

Example scenario: crossing from wall to stream

Last autumn I needed to cross a broad expanse of peat to reach a wall that showed on my map as a useful line. There were no obvious tracks across the middle, but a faint sheep-track traced a shallow arc between tufts of purple moor-grass. It aligned with a break of slope I could pick out on the map. I tested the track with my poles and found sections of firm peat and one small hollow filled with water. I skirted the hollow by angling a few degrees downhill and rejoined the track where it climbed toward a low cairn on the wall line. By combining the sheep-track, cairn, map and a couple of probe steps I crossed with dry feet and a clearer sense of how the landscape was used.

Reading sheep tracks and cairns is as much about humility as skill. They are clues left by other users of the land — animals and people — and they rarely tell the whole story. Treat them as part of a layered approach: map, compass, tech, local signs and careful testing of the ground. With practice you’ll develop a sense for which lines to trust and when to trust your own judgement. And remember: the aim is to move through these fragile, beautiful edges of Britain with curiosity, respect and a light footprint.