In a metes and bounds survey, directions are described using quadrant bearings: each boundary line is given as an angle measured from either north or south, rotated toward either east or west, and expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds. A bearing like N 45° 30′ E means face north and turn 45 degrees and 30 minutes toward the east. That bearing is paired with a distance, and together the two values define a single side of the property. String the sides together in order and you have traced the perimeter.
The Quadrant Bearing Format
Every bearing has the same three-part shape. It opens with N or S, states an angle, and closes with E or W. The angle is measured from the north-south line toward the east-west line, so it never exceeds 90°.1Bureau of Land Management. Survey Basics Made Easy Instead of numbering the full circle from 0° to 360° the way a compass does, surveyors split the circle into four quadrants anchored by the cardinal directions.
- Northeast quadrant: N 0° to N 90° E. Due north is N 0° E, due east is N 90° E.
- Southeast quadrant: S 0° to S 90° E. Due south is S 0° E, due east is S 90° E.
- Southwest quadrant: S 0° to S 90° W. Due west is S 90° W.
- Northwest quadrant: N 0° to N 90° W. Due west is N 90° W.
Two different bearings can describe the same cardinal direction. Due east can be written N 90° E or S 90° E. In practice, the surveyor picks the quadrant that matches the general drift of the line. A line running mostly north and slightly east starts with N; a line running mostly south and slightly west starts with S. Once you internalize the pattern, you can picture the direction of any line before you even read the distance.
Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds
Bearings need more precision than whole degrees can offer. A one-degree error over a quarter-mile boundary puts the endpoint roughly 23 feet off, which is enough to swallow a driveway. So the angle is broken down further: 60 minutes (‘) in a degree, and 60 seconds (“) in a minute.1Bureau of Land Management. Survey Basics Made Easy
A bearing written N 45° 30′ 15″ E reads as: start facing north, then rotate 45 degrees, 30 minutes, and 15 seconds toward the east. Those tiny increments look excessive on a small lot, but one arc-second at the earth’s surface is about 100 feet of lateral distance over a mile. Modern equipment measures to that resolution routinely, and long boundaries need it.
Bearings Versus Azimuths
You may run into a second notation, especially on engineering plans or federal land records. An azimuth is a single angle from 0° to 360°, always measured clockwise from north. Due east is 90°, due south is 180°, due west is 270°.
Both systems describe the same lines with different labels. A bearing of S 45° E is the same direction as an azimuth of 135°. The conversions are arithmetic: for a southeast bearing, subtract the angle from 180°; for a southwest bearing, add it to 180°; for a northwest bearing, subtract from 360°.2The Nature of Geographic Information. Measuring Angles Most recorded deeds use quadrant bearings. If you see a three-digit angle standing alone on a plat, it is almost certainly an azimuth.
How a Bearing Fits Inside a Course
A bearing on its own does not draw a line. It has to be attached to a starting point and a distance, and that packaging is called a course.
Every metes and bounds description opens at a Point of Beginning (POB), a corner identifiable on the ground and usually tied to a survey monument. Some descriptions also name a Point of Commencement, which walks you from a broader reference (such as a section corner) to the actual starting corner of the parcel. From the POB, each side of the property is written as a course: a bearing plus a distance. The word “thence” signals the move from one course to the next. A typical course might read: “Thence, South 00° 16′ 00″ West, a distance of 867.90 feet.”3Bureau of Land Management. Specifications for Descriptions of Land
Each course ends at a monument, the physical marker that fixes the corner. Monuments come in two kinds. Natural monuments are features that exist without human intervention: rivers, ridgelines, boulders, notable trees. Artificial monuments are set by people: iron rebar, capped pipes, concrete posts, chiseled marks. Older descriptions rely heavily on natural monuments; modern surveys almost always place permanent artificial ones at each corner. The bearing you read connects one monument to the next, and the distance tells you how far apart they sit.
Reading a Sample Description
Assembled, a simple description reads something like this:
Beginning at an iron pin at the northeast corner of the parcel, thence S 85° 30′ W a distance of 200.00 feet to an iron pin; thence S 04° 15′ E a distance of 150.00 feet to an iron pin; thence N 85° 30′ E a distance of 200.00 feet to an iron pin; thence N 04° 15′ W a distance of 150.00 feet to the Point of Beginning.
Walk through it in your head. Starting at the northeast corner, the first course runs west along the north side of the lot. The second turns south down the west side. The third runs east along the south side. The fourth closes the rectangle by heading north back to where you started. Each “thence” is a turn; each bearing-distance pair is one side.
Notice that the last course returns to the Point of Beginning. That closure is required. The described boundary must form a closed polygon so the parcel’s shape and area can be computed. When the final course endpoint does not land exactly on the POB, the gap is the “error of closure,” and it is expressed as a ratio.4California Department of Transportation. Classifications of Accuracy and Standards
Magnetic North Versus True North
Old descriptions trip people up here. A compass needle does not point to geographic (true) north. It points to magnetic north, and the difference is called magnetic declination. In parts of the United States, declination exceeds 15°, and it shifts measurably over decades.5National Centers for Environmental Information. Magnetic Declination
Historical surveys often recorded magnetic bearings because the surveyor’s compass was the primary tool. A bearing written in 1850 as N 45° E referenced magnetic north at that place and time. If declination has since shifted several degrees, that bearing does not point where a modern compass would send you. Converting an old magnetic bearing to a true bearing means adding or subtracting the declination value for the survey’s date and location.
Modern surveys state a “basis of bearings” that identifies whether the directions reference true north, magnetic north, or a grid north tied to a state plane coordinate system. If a description does not state its basis of bearings, it was likely recorded before that became standard practice, and the bearings should be treated as magnetic. Retracing an old boundary on the ground is work for a licensed surveyor who can apply the right correction.
When the Bearing Disagrees With the Ground
Bearings are directional numbers on paper, and paper is not the final word. If a deed says “N 45° E, 200 feet to the oak tree at the creek bank” and the oak actually sits 210 feet away at a slightly different angle, the tree controls. Courts follow a hierarchy when elements of a description conflict, generally ranked from most controlling to least:
- Natural monuments
- Artificial monuments
- Distances
- Bearings
- Stated area
So the bearing you read is authoritative only when nothing on the ground contradicts it. The order of distances and bearings can swap by region: in public land survey states, distances sometimes outrank bearings; in states with a longer metes and bounds tradition, bearings can outrank distances. Either way, physical evidence at the corners beats the numbers written between them.
What to Check When You Read a Description
Three quick checks catch most of what goes wrong with the directional part of a description. First, confirm the description closes: the last course should return to the Point of Beginning. Second, look for the basis of bearings; if it is not stated, assume the bearings are magnetic and factor in declination before comparing them to a modern compass or GPS reading. Third, verify that the monuments called out at each turn actually exist on the ground where the bearings and distances say they should.
When all three check out, the bearings in the description do exactly what they were written to do: point you around the perimeter of the parcel, one course at a time, back to where you started.