Ouray, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Ouray, Colorado, shaded from 7,590 ft on the north side to 8,470 ft on the northeast edge, below higher ground just outside
Elevation
8,470 ft 2,580 m8,250 ft 2,515 m8,140 ft 2,480 m7,920 ft 2,415 m7,700 ft 2,345 m7,590 ft 2,315 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

Ouray sits at about 7,800 ft (2,375 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
7,800 ft 2,375 m
most residents: 7,660–7,920 ft
Lowest
7,590 ft 2,315 m
on the north side
Highest
8,470 ft 2,580 m
on the northeast edge, below higher ground just outside
Average
7,830 ft 2,390 m
all land inside city limits

Ouray spans about 880 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
7,800 ft2,375 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the northeast edge, below higher ground just outside
8,470 ft2,580 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the north side
7,590 ft2,315 m
Town center
USGS map point for Ouray
7,780 ft2,370 m
Airport (TEX)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 13 mi west of the city limits
9,070 ft2,765 m
Average of all land7,830 ft2,390 m
Nearest peak
Mount Sneffels, 6.3 mi west of the city limits
14,100 ft4,300 m

Elevation profile, west to east

0.7 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 7,800 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
197.5 °F91.9 °C

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

Air pressure
75% of sea level

22.4 inHg (75.8 kPa): each breath holds 25% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
15.7% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+16% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Ouray, Colorado, shaded from 7,590 ft on the north side to 8,470 ft on the northeast edge, below higher ground just outside
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Ouray County, Colorado, United States
Population
912 2024 est.
Land area
0.9 sq mi
Density
1,057 per sq mi
Coordinates
38.0228° N, 107.6714° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Southern Rocky Mountains
Drains to
Uncompahgre River → Gunnison River → Colorado River → Gulf of California
Airport
Telluride Regional (TEX) 9,070 ft
ZIP codes 1
81427
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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. Ophir9,720 ft
  2. Silverton9,310 ft
  3. Mountain Village9,290 ft
  4. Telluride8,760 ft
  5. Lake City8,670 ft
  6. Ouray7,800 ft
  7. Loghill Village7,790 ft
  8. Sawpit7,580 ft
  9. Placerville7,460 ft
  10. Portland7,210 ft
  11. Ridgway7,040 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Uncompahgre Peak14,321 ft
  • Mount Sneffels14,100 ft
  • Handies Peak14,058 ft
  • Wetterhorn Peak14,010 ft
  • Tower Mountain13,520 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.