How to Use the Compass Bearing Calculator
Whether you're planning a hike, a sailing route, or a drone flight path, sometimes you need to know exactly which direction a destination lies from your starting point. This calculator takes the latitude and longitude of two points and instantly returns the bearing in degrees and a 16-point compass direction.
A bearing is measured clockwise from true north (0°), where 90° is due east, 180° is due south, and 270° is due west. Because the Earth is a sphere rather than a flat plane, simply subtracting coordinates doesn't give an accurate bearing — this calculator uses a proper spherical trigonometry formula instead.
To find latitude and longitude, long-press any point in Google Maps and copy the coordinates shown at the bottom of the screen. For example, New York City is about 40.7128, -74.0060, and Los Angeles is about 34.0522, -118.2437. The bearing this tool returns can be used directly with a hiking compass or mapping app to orient yourself toward your destination.
Frequently Asked Questions
A bearing is the angle measured clockwise from true north (0°), showing exactly which direction the destination lies from the starting point, expressed as a number from 0 to 360 degrees.
Long-press any location in Google Maps and the coordinates (e.g. 40.7128, -74.0060) will appear — copy them directly into this calculator.