PLSS to GPS Converter: Turn Any Public Land Survey Description into Coordinates

The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the grid system that divides most of the western and midwestern United States into townships, sections, quarter sections, and quarter-quarter sections. This guide explains how to convert any PLSS description — from a full section down to a specific quarter-quarter section — into GPS coordinates using Township America.

What Is the PLSS?

The PLSS divides land into a hierarchy:

• Principal Meridian & Baseline: The reference lines that anchor the grid. Each region of the US has its own principal meridian (e.g., Sixth Principal Meridian for Colorado/Kansas, Montana Principal Meridian for Montana, Fifth Principal Meridian for North Dakota).
• Township: A 6-mile x 6-mile block, numbered north or south from the baseline. Township 5 North (T5N) starts at 5 township-widths north of the baseline.
• Range: Columns of townships numbered east or west from each principal meridian.
• Section: Each township contains 36 sections, each roughly 640 acres (1 square mile).
• Quarter Section: Four per section (NE, NW, SE, SW), each approximately 160 acres.
• Quarter-Quarter Section: 16 per section, each approximately 40 acres.

A PLSS description can reference any level. A pipeline company might reference an entire section (Sec 14 T5N R3W Sixth PM), while a well license specifies an exact quarter section (NE 14-5N-3W Sixth Principal Meridian).

When You Need a PLSS to GPS Conversion

A surveyor receives a project brief listing 30 section-level locations for a proposed transmission line route across central Colorado. To plan fieldwork, they need GPS waypoints for each section center. An oil and gas company filing with a state commission needs to confirm that the PLSS locations on a well license application match the actual coordinates of their planned drill sites. A Kansas farmer applying for crop insurance needs to verify the quarter section listed on their policy against their actual field boundaries.

In all these cases, converting PLSS notation to GPS coordinates is a required first step.

How to Convert PLSS to GPS with Township America

Step 1: Enter the PLSS Description

Go to Township America and type any PLSS description into the search bar. The converter accepts multiple levels of detail:

• Section: Sec 14 T5N R3W Sixth PM (640 acres)
• Quarter Section: NE 14-5N-3W Sixth Principal Meridian (160 acres)
• Quarter-Quarter Section: NESW 25-5N-30E Mount Diablo Meridian (40 acres)

Formatting is flexible — 14 5N 3W Sixth PM, Sec 14 T5N R3W Sixth Principal Meridian, and other common notations all work.

Step 2: Review the GPS Result

Township America returns the latitude and longitude of the center point for your specified area. You'll also see:

• The parcel boundary outlined on the survey grid map
• The PLSS hierarchy (which township, range, and principal meridian it falls within)
• Satellite imagery for visual confirmation (on Pro and Business plans)

Step 3: Export or Navigate

From the result page, you can:

• Copy the GPS coordinates for use in other tools
• Get driving directions to the location
• Save it to your saved places
• Export as PDF, CSV, KML, Shapefile, GeoJSON, or DXF (export guide)

Step 4: Convert in Bulk (Optional)

For large datasets — regulatory filings, pipeline route plans, well inventories — upload a CSV to the batch converter. It processes thousands of PLSS descriptions in a single upload, returning GPS coordinates for every row. Available on the Business plan.

Example Conversion

Input: NE 14-5N-3W Sixth Principal Meridian

This is the northeast quarter of Section 14, Township 5 North, Range 3 West, Sixth Principal Meridian.

Output: approximately 39.74°N, 104.99°W

That's about 160 acres of land in the Denver metro area of Colorado. The about page on Township America has more detail on how this notation breaks down.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Omitting the principal meridian: 14 5N 3W is ambiguous — Sixth PM or Fifth PM? Always include the principal meridian to avoid landing in the wrong state.
• Confusing range and township: Township numbers indicate north-south position; range numbers indicate east-west position. Swapping them puts your location in the wrong row or column of the grid.
• Confusing township direction: T5N (5 North) and T5S (5 South) are on opposite sides of the baseline. Always include the direction.

For quarter section conversion specifically, see our PLSS to lat/long guide. To look up land by other methods — address, place name, or coordinates — check the legal land description lookup guide.

Convert a PLSS Description Now

Try it yourself — enter NE 14-5N-3W Sixth Principal Meridian into the Township America converter and see the GPS coordinates instantly. Or type in any PLSS description from your own files.