Alta Sierra, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Alta Sierra, California, shaded from 1,470 ft on the south side to 2,390 ft at the foot of the Sand Hills
Elevation
2,390 ft 730 m2,160 ft 660 m2,040 ft 625 m1,810 ft 555 m1,580 ft 485 m1,470 ft 450 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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How to use this mapviews, tools and data
Elevation
Ground colored by height from green (lowest) to white (highest), with contour lines every 40–500 ft (USGS data).
Satellite
A 2016 satellite photo at 33 ft (10 m) detail; contours off.
3D
Tilt and turn the terrain; hills are raised 1.5×, or set ×1 for true height.
Click or tap anywhere
The exact elevation of that spot in ft and m.
Measure
Pick two points for the climb, descent and grade along a straight line.
Area
Fades everything outside the official CDP boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Alta Sierra sits at about 2,160 ft (660 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
2,160 ft 660 m
most residents: 1,990–2,310 ft
Lowest
1,470 ft 450 m
on the south side
Highest
2,390 ft 730 m
at the foot of the Sand Hills
Average
2,030 ft 620 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

Alta Sierra spans about 920 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where its people live, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Typical
Where people live: half of residents higher, half lower
2,160 ft660 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the Sand Hills
2,390 ft730 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the south side
1,470 ft450 m
Town center
USGS map point for Alta Sierra
2,310 ft705 m
Airport (GOO)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 5.3 mi northeast of the CDP boundary
3,158 ft963 m
Average of all land2,030 ft620 m

Elevation profile, south to north

4.0 mi south to north through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Alta Sierra, California, shaded from 1,470 ft on the south side to 2,390 ft at the foot of the Sand Hills
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Nevada County, California, United States
Population
7,204 2020 Census
Land area
8.3 sq mi
Density
866 per sq mi
Coordinates
39.1416° N, 121.0538° W
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Cascade-sierra Mountains
Drains to
Sacramento River → Pacific Ocean
Airport
Nevada County (GOO) 3,158 ft
ZIP codes 1
95949
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WebP, 1200 × 900. Free to use: credit “ElevationOf.com” with a link to this page.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS, FAA

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Alta3,770 ft
  2. Dutch Flat3,180 ft
  3. Nevada City2,600 ft
  4. Grass Valley2,520 ft
  5. Colfax2,420 ft
  6. Alta Sierra2,160 ft
  7. Rough and Ready2,040 ft
  8. Meadow Vista1,770 ft
  9. Lake of the Pines1,550 ft
  10. Penn Valley1,430 ft
  11. Lake Wildwood1,350 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Granite Chief9,010 ft
  • Basin Peak9,010 ft
  • Sierra Buttes8,520 ft
  • Snow Mountain, Placer County8,010 ft
  • South Butte2,100 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the CDP boundary, at its USGS 3DEP height, weighted by the people who live there. Half of residents live higher, half lower.
  • Lowest, highest, average: USGS 3DEP bare-earth heights on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid, land only, inside the Census CDP boundary (TIGER, Jan 1 2026).
  • Nearby Places: nearby towns and rankings use each town's typical elevation, so every town is compared like for like. Rankings count every city, town, township and census-designated place, including places inside a town. Peaks and hills: the nearest summits with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence within 62 mi (100 km), then federal (GNIS) summits within 16 mi (25 km) when there are fewer than 5; each is the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a usable survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it (shown as published).
  • Rounding: computed heights are rounded to 10 ft (5 m), or to 1 ft (1 m) under 100 ft; 3DEP is good to about a meter, not a foot. Published figures (FAA airport elevation, NGS survey heights) are shown as their publisher gives them.
  • Datum: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). NGS plans to replace NAVD 88 with a new datum (NAPGD2022); heights will then shift slightly.
  • Alta Sierra is an unincorporated community; figures cover the census-designated place, a statistical area.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.