Summary The paper presents a feedback control design that allows a Dubins vehicle to enter a circular trajectory using only range‐based measurements from the vehicle to the center of the trajectory. The controller is derived and analyzed based on a novel state space kinematic model, with the state that is composed of two continuous and one discrete state variables.The evolution of the discrete state variable is not completely defined by the model and the control design has to deal with the ambiguity of this value. Based on the conditions that need to be satisfied for the controller to work, the closed loop dynamics analysis can be performed based on 2D phase portraits, and it can be shown that the controller can work in the case of the bounded turning rate of the vehicle. The conditions define only bounds for the controller parameters and not their specific values. Therefore, the parameters can be selected based on the maximal working range of the controller and linear quadratic regulator design. The proposed control design is illustrated by 2D phase portraits and simulations describing the control implementation, which is based only on range measurements. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.