Fort Collins, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Fort Collins, Colorado, shaded from 4,830 ft on the southeast side to 5,900 ft on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside
Elevation
5,900 ft 1,800 m5,630 ft 1,715 m5,500 ft 1,675 m5,230 ft 1,595 m4,960 ft 1,510 m4,830 ft 1,470 m
Contours every 200 ft, bold every 1,000 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

Fort Collins sits at about 5,000 ft (1,525 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
5,000 ft 1,525 m
most residents: 4,930–5,100 ft
Lowest
4,830 ft 1,470 m
on the southeast side
Highest
5,900 ft 1,800 m
on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside
Average
5,010 ft 1,530 m
all land inside city limits

Fort Collins spans about 1,070 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
5,000 ft1,525 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside
5,900 ft1,800 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southeast side
4,830 ft1,470 m
Town center
USGS map point for Fort Collins
5,000 ft1,525 m
Average of all land5,010 ft1,530 m

Elevation profile, west to east

6.7 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 5,000 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
202.7 °F94.8 °C

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

Air pressure
83% of sea level

24.9 inHg (84.3 kPa): each breath holds 17% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.4% 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 Fort Collins, Colorado, shaded from 4,830 ft on the southeast side to 5,900 ft on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Larimer County, Colorado, United States
Population
170,924 2024 est.
Land area
57.3 sq mi + 1.3 sq mi water
Density
2,982 per sq mi
Coordinates
40.5853° N, 105.0844° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Great Plains
Drains to
Cache la Poudre River → South Platte River → Middle Channel Platte River → Platte River → Missouri River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
ZIP codes 6
80512 80521 80524 80525 80526 80528
⤓ Download this map

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. Nunn5,190 ft
  2. Wellington5,180 ft
  3. Laporte5,080 ft
  4. Berthoud5,040 ft
  5. Pierce5,040 ft
  6. Loveland5,020 ft
  7. Fort Collins5,000 ft
  8. Ault4,940 ft
  9. Severance4,890 ft
  10. Timnath4,840 ft
  11. Windsor4,800 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Hagues Peak13,572 ft
  • Fairchild Mountain13,500 ft
  • Twin Sisters Mountain11,400 ft
  • West White Pine Mountain10,311 ft
  • Deer Mountain10,010 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).
  • Pits: the lowest point is the lowest ground outside closed hollows (quarry floors, mine pits, terrain-model artifacts): any hollow under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²), and any hollow under 2 sq mi (5 km²) whose floor is more than 100 ft (30 m) below its rim; and outside patches below sea level of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²). The single lowest 3DEP cell, 4,820 ft at 40.5124° N, 104.9943° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted.
  • 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); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.