What is the difference between metes and bounds and PLSS descriptions?

Question

Turnrow Capital · Accepted Answer

Metes and bounds describes a parcel by walking its perimeter — bearings and distances from a point of beginning ("N 42°15' E, 660 feet to an iron pin") — while PLSS describes it by grid position (section, township, range). The original 13 states, Texas, and older parcels everywhere use metes and bounds; most of the rest of the country uses PLSS aliquot parts.

Metes are the measurements — a bearing and a distance for each course. Bounds are the monuments and adjoiners — "to the centerline of Willow Creek," "along the north line of the Herrera tract." A valid description must close: follow every call and you end back at the point of beginning. Descriptions that fail to close by more than survey tolerance are a title problem.

Older metes and bounds descriptions carry known hazards: monuments that no longer exist ("the large white oak"), magnetic bearings that have drifted, and chains and rods as units (1 chain = 66 feet, 1 rod = 16.5 feet). Courts resolve conflicts by a hierarchy — natural monuments beat artificial monuments, which beat courses, which beat distances, which beat area.

Irregular parcels inside PLSS states — river frontage, parcels split by a highway, anything carved from a larger aliquot — usually get metes and bounds descriptions too, tied to a section corner. If your deed's description is metes and bounds and decades old, budget for a modern survey; retracing old calls is exactly what licensed surveyors are for.