Grid System for Sandia Mountains
The Sandia Grid System assigns letters to minutes of latitude and longitude:
  • Latitude begins at 35°0'n and sequences northward through 35°22'.
  • Longitude begins at 106°15'w and sequences westward through 106°37'.
  • Format for point names is lat-grid-label, lon-grid-label, seconds-of-latitude, seconds-of-longitude.
  • Example: The Pino Trailhead is labeled KQ4813. This point is at lat grid K (35°9'n) & lon grid Q (106°28'w) with seconds values of 48"lat and 13"lon. Actual coördinate value is 35°9'48"n 106°28'13"w.
  • Since current USGS and USFS maps of this area still refer to North American Datum 1927 (nad27), the grid and point designations are based on that datum.
  • To avoid confusion with the numerals zero and one, the letters I L O are not used. 
    grid  lat  long
     35°n  106°w
 A     0'   15'
 B     1    16
 C     2    17
 D     3    18
 E     4    19
 F     5    20
 G     6    21
 H     7'   22' 
 J     8    23
 K     9    24
 M    10    25
 N    11    26
 P    12    27
 Q    13    28
 R    14    29
 S    15'   30'
 T    16    31
 U    17    32
 V    18    33
 W    19    34
 X    20    35
 Y    21    36
 Z    22'   37'
    • www.mycowest.org/gps/sa-grid.htm
    dmw . 2008-04-22

    (52n)