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). <EOS>