Glossary Category: Navigation & Trip Planning

Rockhound navigation and trip planning terms used by rockhounds to locate collecting areas, understand land access, interpret maps, and safely plan field trips. Covers mapping tools, land ownership concepts, route planning, and practical preparation for collecting trips.

Glossary HomeCollecting TechniquesField Safety & PreparednessField TerminologyField Tools & EquipmentLocations & Site TypesNavigation & Trip Planning

Access Easement

An access easement is a legal right to cross or use part of someone else’s land. For collectors, it can determine whether you can reach a public parcel without trespassing.

Bearing and Azimuth Note

A direction note (compass bearing/azimuth) that tells you where you moved or which way a feature trends.

Bedding Orientation Note

A quick record of how a layered rock unit tilts and trends at the spot you’re collecting.

Claim Boundary Check

A claim boundary check is confirming where a mining claim begins and ends before you travel or collect. It helps collectors avoid trespass, conflicts, and misunderstandings about what is legal.

Claim Marker

A posted sign or monument that identifies a mining claim boundary; collectors use markers to avoid claim violations and disputes.

Coordinate Datum

The map datum your GPS coordinates are based on (for example WGS84), which must match your maps.

Coordinate Format

How your device displays coordinates (decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds, UTM), which must stay consistent.

Field Data Backup

Field data backup is the habit of copying photos, GPS tracks, and notes during or right after a trip so a dead phone does not erase provenance.

Field Notebook Protocol

A consistent way of recording observations, locations, and decisions during a collecting trip.

Find Location Redundancy

Find location redundancy means recording the same spot more than one way—GPS, photo, and written notes—so one failure does not break the record.
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