Bearing Calculator — Compass Direction Between Two Points
Find the compass bearing from one GPS coordinate to another. Set two points by search, coordinates, or map clicks, and read the initial bearing on a live compass rose — plus the final bearing, back bearing, and straight-line distance. Free, no signup.
The compass needle points along the initial heading you'd set out on from A to reach B by the shortest path.
Compass bearing A → B
Head SSE — 148.1° true
All bearings
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Bearing A→B: 148.1° (SSE), final 150.0°, back bearing 328.1°, distance 344 kmHow to Use the Bearing Calculator
Place point A where you are (or where the journey starts) and point B at the destination. The compass rose immediately shows the true heading from A to B, both as degrees and as a 16-point compass direction like NE or SSW. The map draws the actual great-circle path, so you can see how the heading relates to the terrain, and every value updates live as you drag the pins.
Remember that these are true bearings. To follow one with a magnetic compass, correct for your local magnetic declination — east declination means subtracting it from the true bearing to get the compass bearing, west means adding.
Who Uses Bearings?
Hikers and orienteers follow bearings across featureless terrain and use back bearings to retrace a route. Pilots and sailors plan legs as headings between waypoints. Search-and-rescue teams convert a last-known position and a bearing into a search corridor. Surveyors and drone pilots define baselines and flight lines by azimuth. Amateur radio operators point directional antennas at a station using the bearing between grid locators.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a bearing?
A bearing is the direction from one point to another, measured in degrees clockwise from true north: 0° is north, 90° east, 180° south, and 270° west. Bearings are the language of navigation — used with a map and compass, in aviation, at sea, and in search-and-rescue.
What is the difference between initial and final bearing?
The shortest path between two points on Earth is a great circle, and your compass heading changes gradually as you follow it. The initial bearing is the heading when you set out from A; the final bearing is the heading as you arrive at B. Over short distances they are nearly identical, but on a long east–west route they can differ by tens of degrees.
What is a back bearing and how is it used?
The back bearing is the direction back from where you came — the initial bearing plus or minus 180°. Navigators use it to verify a position: sight a landmark, take its bearing, and the back bearing from the landmark points along the line you must be standing on.
Is this a true bearing or a magnetic bearing?
All bearings here are true bearings, measured from true (geographic) north. A magnetic compass points at magnetic north, which differs from true north by the local magnetic declination — anywhere from 0° to over 20° depending on where you are. To follow this bearing on a real compass, add or subtract your local declination, which is printed on topographic maps and available from geomagnetic calculators.
How do I take a bearing from my current location?
Click “My location” to set point A to your device's GPS position, then search or click your destination as point B. The compass rose shows the true heading to your destination, and the back bearing shows the way home.
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