A method for visual trailer tracking for vehicle-trailer angle estimation, the method comprising: (a) receiving, by data processing hardware, images from a camera positioned on a rear portion of the tow vehicle facing a trailer connected to the tow vehicle, each most recently received image being identified as a current image, replacing a previously identified current image; (b) during a driving maneuver extracting, by the data processing hardware, visual features of a representation of the trailer from the current image, calculating, by the data processing hardware, a trailer angle (α) of the trailer relative to the tow vehicle from the current image and storing in memory coupled to the data processing hardware the current image as a reference image, the trailer angle (α) as a trailer angle reference and the extracted visual features as visual reference features; (c) subsequent to (b) and after identifying, by the data processing hardware, a recently received image as the current image, extracting, by the data processing hardware, visual reference features of a representation of the trailer from the current image and matching, by the data processing hardware, the visual features from the current image with the visual reference features of the reference image; (d) when the matching is below a first predetermined threshold, repeating (c) by the data processing hardware to update the reference image, the trailer angle reference and the visual reference features; (e) calculating, by the data processing hardware, a trailer angle between the trailer representation in the current image and the trailer representation in the reference image based in part upon the trailer angle reference; and (f) sending, from the data processing hardware to one or more vehicle systems, the calculated trailer angle (α). (a) receiving, by data processing hardware, images from a camera positioned on a rear portion of the tow vehicle facing a trailer connected to the tow vehicle, each most recently received image being identified as a current image, replacing a previously identified current image; (b) during a driving maneuver extracting, by the data processing hardware, visual features of a representation of the trailer from the current image, calculating, by the data processing hardware, a trailer angle (α) of the trailer relative to the tow vehicle from the current image and storing in memory coupled to the data processing hardware the current image as a reference image, the trailer angle (α) as a trailer angle reference and the extracted visual features as visual reference features; (c) subsequent to (b) and after identifying, by the data processing hardware, a recently received image as the current image, extracting, by the data processing hardware, visual reference features of a representation of the trailer from the current image and matching, by the data processing hardware, the visual features from the current image with the visual reference features of the reference image; (d) when the matching is below a first predetermined threshold, repeating (c) by the data processing hardware to update the reference image, the trailer angle reference and the visual reference features; (e) calculating, by the data processing hardware, a trailer angle between the trailer representation in the current image and the trailer representation in the reference image based in part upon the trailer angle reference; and (f) sending, from the data processing hardware to one or more vehicle systems, the calculated trailer angle (α).