Mapping Woods

[Binz]

you could use a handheld GPS like a Garmin Etrex. walk the perimeter and it will record the route which you can then download and show on a map as the boundary, stand by a tree and record it as a named waypoint, then download it all onto a map when you get home. Garmin handheld start about £80, there are cheaper alternatives from other companies, or you could just use an app on your phone (but I don't know how accurate that would be). I use an etrex on my bike and it has no problem working in amongst trees.

[SimonFisher]

We tried that approach in our woods a few years ago (2007) with a Garmin GPSmap 60CS handheld unit and were disppointed at the results. The best accuracy I've seen with the GPSmap 60CS is 14 feet (4.25 metres) - that's on a good day out in the open. In the woods it's typically not as good and we found our boundary plots and tree points not very well defined - lots of erratic points.

Interestingly, I've just started up the a GPS app on my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone sitting on the desk next to me in the house - after settling down, it's indicating accuracy varying between 40 and 120 feet.

[Binz]

the waypoints can be made more accurate by repeating the reading (there is a function for this on my etrex, can't remember exactly what it was called) so it will average a few readings to give a more accurate point

[smojo]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I don't want to go the GPS route as the machines seem expensive and/or not accurate enough in this situation. I was thinking that by starting with a reference point, with a laser measurer, I could fairly easily and cheaply measure the major trees from there and mark them up on my paper map.