An off-road trail recording method and apparatus for use with a navigation system for recording an off-road trail when a vehicle travels in an off-road area to safely return to the original road. The off-road trail recording is achieved without regard to on/off settings of the off-road trail recording function by the user. The navigation system automatically detects that the vehicle has left the road and starts recording the off-road trail in a background mode without display the off-road trail. When the user turns on the off-road trail recording function later, the navigation system prompts the user to decide whether the off-road trail recorded in the background should be recovered in a normal mode. The navigation system provides various means for recording the off-road trail with reduced resolution when the memory capacity is exhausted or insufficient.