Central, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Central, Colorado, shaded from 7,310 ft on the southeast side to 9,420 ft on the west edge, below higher ground just outside
Elevation
9,420 ft 2,870 m8,890 ft 2,710 m8,630 ft 2,630 m8,100 ft 2,470 m7,570 ft 2,305 m7,310 ft 2,225 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

Central sits at about 8,790 ft (2,680 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
8,790 ft 2,680 m
most residents: 8,620–8,950 ft
Lowest
7,310 ft 2,225 m
on the southeast side
Highest
9,420 ft 2,870 m
on the west edge, below higher ground just outside
Average
8,520 ft 2,595 m
all land inside city limits

Central spans about 2,110 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
8,790 ft2,680 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the west edge, below higher ground just outside
9,420 ft2,870 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southeast side
7,310 ft2,225 m
Average of all land8,520 ft2,595 m
Nearest peak
Starr Peak, 7.6 mi northeast of the city limits
10,510 ft3,205 m

Elevation profile, west to east

1.1 mi west to east through the middle of Central.

Altitude Effects

What 8,790 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
195.6 °F90.9 °C

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

Air pressure
72% of sea level

21.6 inHg (73.0 kPa): each breath holds 28% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
15.1% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+18% more UV

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

CDC: about 1 in 4 visitors who sleep above 8,000 ft get altitude sickness. CDC Yellow Book

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Central, Colorado, shaded from 7,310 ft on the southeast side to 9,420 ft on the west edge, below higher ground just outside
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States
Population
793 2024 est.
Land area
2.8 sq mi
Density
285 per sq mi
Coordinates
39.7988° N, 105.5156° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Southern Rocky Mountains
Drains to
Clear Creek → South Platte River → Middle Channel Platte River → Platte River → Missouri River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
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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

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. St. Mary's10,220 ft
  2. Blue Valley9,510 ft
  3. York Gulch9,270 ft
  4. Mill Creek Park9,250 ft
  5. Central8,790 ft
  6. Black Hawk8,610 ft
  7. Rollinsville8,580 ft
  8. Floyd Hill8,400 ft
  9. Pine Valley8,360 ft
  10. Downieville-Lawson-Dumont8,070 ft
  11. Idaho Springs7,570 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Blue Sky14,230 ft
  • Bard Peak13,620 ft
  • North Arapaho Peak13,490 ft
  • Parry Peak13,350 ft
  • Starr Peak10,510 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); BTS time zones. All public domain.