Cortez, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Cortez, Colorado, shaded from 5,920 ft on the southwest side to 6,230 ft on the northeast side
Elevation
6,230 ft 1,900 m6,150 ft 1,875 m6,110 ft 1,865 m6,030 ft 1,840 m5,960 ft 1,815 m5,920 ft 1,805 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
⤓ Download this map
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

Cortez sits at about 6,160 ft (1,880 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
6,160 ft 1,880 m
most residents: 6,130–6,190 ft
Lowest
5,920 ft 1,805 m
on the southwest side
Highest
6,230 ft 1,900 m
on the northeast side
Average
6,140 ft 1,870 m
all land inside city limits

Cortez spans about 310 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
6,160 ft1,880 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the northeast side
6,230 ft1,900 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southwest side
5,920 ft1,805 m
Town center
USGS map point for Cortez
6,200 ft1,890 m
Airport (CEZ)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 1.6 mi southwest of the city limits
5,918 ft1,804 m
Average of all land6,140 ft1,870 m
Nearest peak
Park Point, 6.6 mi southeast of the city limits (NGS survey)
8,581 ft2,615 m

Elevation profile, south to north

2.5 mi south to north through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 6,160 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
200.5 °F93.6 °C

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

Air pressure
80% of sea level

23.8 inHg (80.7 kPa): each breath holds 20% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
16.7% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+12% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Cortez, Colorado, shaded from 5,920 ft on the southwest side to 6,230 ft on the northeast side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
City in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States
Population
9,151 2024 est.
Land area
6.2 sq mi
Density
1,475 per sq mi
Coordinates
37.3489° N, 108.5859° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Colorado Plateaus
Drains to
McElmo Creek → San Juan River → Colorado River → Gulf of California
Airport
Cortez Municipal (CEZ) 5,918 ft
ZIP codes 1
81321
⤓ Download this map

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. Rico8,810 ft
  2. Mancos7,000 ft
  3. Dolores6,960 ft
  4. Dove Creek6,860 ft
  5. Marvel6,730 ft
  6. Lewis6,660 ft
  7. Durango6,630 ft
  8. Cortez6,160 ft
  9. Towaoc5,960 ft
  10. La Plata, NM5,660 ft
  11. Aneth, UT4,590 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Hesperus Mountain13,220 ft
  • Ute Peak9,984 ft
  • Belmear Mountain9,650 ft
  • Black Mountain, Montezuma County9,400 ft
  • Park Point8,581 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.