There are two problems with rights-of-way in woods and forests.
In ones near populated areas there are often many more paths on the ground than just the right-of-way, which makes finding the correct path difficult if you are not familiar with the wood.
In conifer forests in remote parts (they are planted in the UK, Kim, they are not natural) lack of management often means that rights-of-way become blocked by self-seeded young trees growing up on the path, or by the lower branches of mature trees growing across the paths to the point that they are touching each other.
On agricultural land, two footpaths stand out from a walk I did in Hertfordshire a week and a half ago.
One crossed a vast prairie-like field on convex land. It had been ploughed some time ago and there were few marks on the ground to follow. I simply set off in the direction the fingerpost was pointing, too lazy to check with my compass. When I reached the brow of the rise and could see the post marking the exit on the far side, I was about 30 metres off course.
The other one crossed a ploughed field with a freshly emerging cereal crop about 15 cm high. Here the farmer had deliberately gone back and forth with his tractor along the line of the footpath, leaving a pair of firm lines to follow.
