Finding Property By Legal Description

[+O Crew]

I am very new to GPS and the sport. I just picked up an etrex Legend and am getting to know how to use it.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is an online source, mapping software, or some other trick with a map to determine the bearing coordinates of a piece of property by its legal description (i.e. Salt Lake Meridian, Range . . ., Township . .etc.)? Thanks.

[+Renegade Knight]

If you can use the legal to draw it on a topo you can input the UTM coordinates into your GPS as mesured on the map. That will get you close.

[+dino_hunters]

If you want software that can give you GOOD GPS coordinates, based on a legal description, you are looking at about a $10,000 investment. The data is not cheap, and neither is the software. Your best off plotting in on topo software and getting the coords that way.

 

jjb

[+DBC FOR LIFE]

The accuracy of handhelp GPS units is not high enough to do any sort of real property determinations. I work at a land surveying company and know very the difference between "survey-grade gps" and "consumer-grade gps". Entry-level survey-grade gps units run in the neighborhood of $5,000 for a couple units (you need AT-LEAST two of these). Mind you, this can take anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of hours to collect gps data and must be post-processed on a PC. Even after that, supplemental measurements are required to make boundary/corner determinations.

 

Some surveyors use consumer-grade gps units to SEARCH FOR (read: SEARCH FOR, not SET) corners that have already been set using standard surveying practices because these units will get them within about 20 feet, which is usually good enough for looking with a magnetic locator (Schonstedt or similar).

 

If all you are looking for is the BEARING for on of your property sidelines this information can be found on the Tract Map or original survey from when the land was subdivided which will be filed at the county surveyor's office (the county the property is in). It will have angles and distances as well. If you are in a township/range research will be only very slightly different. Legal descriptions take a certain amount of "elegance" and can be difficult to decode without some experience.

 

Hope that helps or at least raises some questions...

Regards,

DBC

[+Renegade Knight]

You can use AutoCAD Lite or other cheap CAD software to get Good GPS coordinates. The entire trick is to determine one known point from the software in a coordinate system your GPS has. But that information is available.

 

As for Survey Grade GPS equipment, true it's expensive but a hand held can get you close enough to find a fence on a property you are trying to get a feel for.

 

As soon as I can get a legal I'll be doing this very thing for a property to visually delineate the property lines.

[dsandbro]

There is a freeware utility called WinCAN developed by the government for use by emergency dispatchers. WinCAN (Windows Computer Aided Navigation) will take coordinates many different systems and convert it to others (including Township, Range and Section). Dispatchers get calls from people reporting emergencies with every conceivable location format and this program is designed for them.

 

I'll see if I can find it and post it here.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Let us see.

 

Public Land Survey System.

This could get deep real fast so I will Start slow this time and we will see where it goes.

 

All Public Lands Have an Initial Point.

Townships were layed out in 6 mile as can be squares.(not perfect due to convergency of the Meridians at the poles).

Creating Township 1 Range.1,ect

A corner can be determined by multiplying of the Township and Range line X 6.

E.W.N.S.

TWP. 4 x 6=24 MILES,NORTH OR SOUTH.

RNG. 5 x 6=30 MILES,EAST OR WEST.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

PUBLIC LANDS

[+Team Tierra Buena]

If you're in or visiting Arizona, you may want to attempt this cache. I notice no one's admitted to trying it for a year.

 

Steve