A navigation system to aid in the navigation through an unknown area. The navigation system includes a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, at least one a portal terminal and at least one navigation device. The plurality of RFID tags are positioned throughout an area to be traversed. The at least one portal terminal is located near an entrance to the area to be traversed. The at least one portal terminal is adapted to upload a map of the area to be traversed. The map includes the location of each RFID tag. The at least one navigation device is adapted to download the map from the portal terminal. The at least one navigational device is further adapted to display its location in the area to be traversed based at least in part on the detection of one or more of the plurality of RFID tags.