Durango, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Durango, Colorado, shaded from 6,350 ft on the south side to 8,020 ft on the east side
Elevation
8,020 ft 2,445 m7,600 ft 2,320 m7,390 ft 2,255 m6,980 ft 2,125 m6,560 ft 2,000 m6,350 ft 1,935 m
Contours every 200 ft, bold every 1,000 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

Durango sits at about 6,630 ft (2,020 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
6,630 ft 2,020 m
most residents: 6,540–6,860 ft
Lowest
6,350 ft 1,935 m
on the south side
Highest
8,020 ft 2,445 m
on the east side
Average
6,880 ft 2,100 m
all land inside city limits

Durango spans about 1,670 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
6,630 ft2,020 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the east side
8,020 ft2,445 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the south side
6,350 ft1,935 m
Town center
USGS map point for Durango
6,530 ft1,990 m
Airport (DRO)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 6.4 mi southeast of the city limits
6,689 ft2,039 m
Average of all land6,880 ft2,100 m
Nearest peak
Silver Mountain, La Plata County, 8.9 mi northwest of the city limits
12,470 ft3,800 m

Elevation profile, west to east

6.5 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 6,630 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
199.7 °F93.1 °C

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

Air pressure
78% of sea level

23.4 inHg (79.3 kPa): each breath holds 22% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
16.4% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+13% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Durango, Colorado, shaded from 6,350 ft on the south side to 8,020 ft on the east side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in La Plata County, Colorado, United States
Population
19,811 2024 est.
Land area
17.7 sq mi + 2.4 sq mi water
Density
1,116 per sq mi
Coordinates
37.2753° N, 107.8801° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Colorado Plateaus
Drains to
Animas River → San Juan River → Colorado River → Gulf of California
Airport
Durango-la Plata County (DRO) 6,689 ft
ZIP codes 3
81301 81303 81326
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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. Mancos7,000 ft
  2. Bayfield6,980 ft
  3. Marvel6,730 ft
  4. Durango6,630 ft
  5. Southern Ute6,560 ft
  6. Middle Mesa, NM6,520 ft
  7. Ignacio6,460 ft
  8. La Boca, NM6,300 ft
  9. North Light Plant, NM5,960 ft
  10. Cedar Hill, NM5,950 ft
  11. Center Point, NM5,740 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Eolus14,030 ft
  • Hesperus Mountain13,220 ft
  • North Twilight Peak13,070 ft
  • Blackhawk Mountain12,687 ft
  • Silver Mountain, La Plata County12,470 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.