Portola, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Portola, California, shaded from 4,810 ft on the southwest side to 5,760 ft on the north side
Elevation
5,760 ft 1,755 m5,520 ft 1,685 m5,400 ft 1,645 m5,170 ft 1,575 m4,930 ft 1,505 m4,810 ft 1,465 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.
City area
Fades everything outside the official city limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Portola sits at about 4,910 ft (1,495 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
4,910 ft 1,495 m
most residents: 4,860–4,950 ft
Lowest
4,810 ft 1,465 m
on the southwest side
Highest
5,760 ft 1,755 m
on the north side
Average
5,120 ft 1,560 m
all land inside city limits

Portola spans about 950 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
4,910 ft1,495 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the north side
5,760 ft1,755 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southwest side
4,810 ft1,465 m
Town center
USGS map point for Portola
4,850 ft1,480 m
Airport (O02)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 5.5 mi east of the city limits
4,900 ft1,494 m
Average of all land5,120 ft1,560 m
Nearest peak
Beckwourth Peak, 1.9 mi southeast of the city limits (NGS survey)
7,264 ft2,214 m

Elevation profile, south to north

4.0 mi south to north through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 4,910 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
202.9 °F94.9 °C

vs 212 °F at sea level; USDA: food takes longer to cook.

Air pressure
83% of sea level

25.0 inHg (84.6 kPa): each breath holds 17% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.5% at sea level

Air is still 21% oxygen, just thinner. Normal at the coast: 20.9%.

Sunburn
+10% more UV

EPA: UV rises about 2% for every 1,000 ft.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Portola, California, shaded from 4,810 ft on the southwest side to 5,760 ft on the north side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
City in Plumas County, California, United States
Population
2,086 2024 est.
Land area
5.4 sq mi
Density
386 per sq mi
Coordinates
39.8105° N, 120.4691° W
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Cascade-sierra Mountains
Drains to
Middle Fork Feather River → Feather River → Sacramento River → Pacific Ocean
Airport
Nervino (O02) 4,900 ft
ZIP codes 1
96122
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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. Lake Davis5,870 ft
  2. Beckwourth5,400 ft
  3. Gold Mountain4,960 ft
  4. Iron Horse4,940 ft
  5. Mohawk Vista4,930 ft
  6. Delleker4,930 ft
  7. Mabie4,910 ft
  8. Portola4,910 ft
  9. C-Road4,680 ft
  10. Valley Ranch4,480 ft
  11. Clio4,410 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Ingalls8,376 ft
  • Dixie Mountain8,327 ft
  • Haskell Peak8,090 ft
  • Horton Ridge7,610 ft
  • Beckwourth Peak7,264 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the city limits, 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 city limits (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).
  • Altitude effects: standard-atmosphere formulas applied to the typical elevation; UV from EPA's rule of thumb (about 2% per 1,000 ft).
  • 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.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.