Find Your Property Pins and Corners using a Compass

One of the easiest ways to find your property corners of your Colorado Mountain Property is with a Compass. I have found that in many cases this is better than using a GPS unless you have the programs on your computer to help you but using a GPS is usually a two step process that I will explain in another post.

Using a Compass like the Suunto Navigator below you can set the magnetic declination for your local area with the adjustment bezel and that will allow you to use the compass heading on your plat map to find your property pins. Magnetic declination, sometimes called magnetic variation, is the angle between magnetic north and true north.

Magnetic declination changes over time and with location so you will need to check this right before you go to find your property corners. To find your most current magnetic declination you can go to the NOAA website and put in your zip code or latitude and longitude. Currently the declination near Trinidad Colorado is 8° 46' E changing by 0° 7' W/year according to the NOAA site. When I first started selling property in Colorado in 1995 or so the declination was about 10° 13' E.

So lets use a practical example using the Plat for Lot F25, one of the Properties that we currently have for sale on Santa Fe Trail Ranch. We are going to assume that you have a compass like the Suunto Navigator where you can set the declination and that you have it set already.

Plat Example Santa Fe Trail Ranch F-25

Lets use the top heading on this plat S 64° 26' 09" E and the distance is 1201.14' feet. We read the heading backwards to help us dial in the bearing. In this case we would read it "East of South 64 degrees". So you would go to South and then go east of south 64 degrees. This is easier if your compass has a 0-90 quadrant scale like I use instead of a 0-360 scale but can be done with either, you just have to do a little more math with the 0-360 scale compass.

So if you were standing on either corner on the line that we are discussing you would set your compass and then sight along the line using the sighting mirror and V-notch. And in this case if you are going 1200 feet you just have to sight to a tree or object being as accurate as you can and when you get there sight to the next tree and keep going. Its helpful if you can judge distance but the best thing is to also have a topo map so that you know the land features near the corner pin. I have walked 1200 feet many times going right to the corner pin using my compass. You just have to take your time and sight as best as you can.

And you have to trust your compass. Many times I have sighted to a tree and then walked around to the other side and started sighting again to find that I was trying to go in the wrong direction. It just felt like the right direction but I was way off so just trust your compass is the best advice that I can give you.

If you take your time you will be able to locate all your property pins with no problem even in the steepest terrain and and thickest of brush cause most corner pins are marked good with T-posts or PVC markers. And always look for signs of old faded flagging tape, that can certainly help you find those corners.

Good luck with finding your corner pins. A note of caution is that if you are putting up a fence or building near a property line we recommend that you have a surveyor mark the line for you. Don't rely on a compass when you need a more accurate measurement.

Be sure to see our Colorado Land for Sale listings and when you pick out your favorite we will help you find all your property pins.