Rico, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rico, Colorado, shaded from 8,670 ft on the south side to 9,670 ft at the foot of the Rico Mountains
Elevation
9,670 ft 2,950 m9,420 ft 2,870 m9,290 ft 2,835 m9,040 ft 2,755 m8,790 ft 2,680 m8,670 ft 2,640 m
Contours every 40 ft, bold every 200 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.
Town area
Fades everything outside the official town limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Rico sits at about 8,810 ft (2,685 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
8,810 ft 2,685 m
most residents: 8,740–8,990 ft
Lowest
8,670 ft 2,640 m
on the south side
Highest
9,670 ft 2,945 m
at the foot of the Rico Mountains
Average
8,900 ft 2,710 m
all land inside town limits

Rico spans about 1,000 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
8,810 ft2,685 m
Highest point
Inside town limits, at the foot of the Rico Mountains
9,670 ft2,945 m
Lowest point
Inside town limits, on the south side
8,670 ft2,640 m
Town center
USGS map point for Rico
8,830 ft2,690 m
Average of all land8,900 ft2,710 m
Nearest peak
Blackhawk Mountain, 1.9 mi east of the town limits (NGS survey)
12,687 ft3,867 m

Elevation profile, west to east

0.8 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 8,810 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

21.5 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 Rico, Colorado, shaded from 8,670 ft on the south side to 9,670 ft at the foot of the Rico Mountains
Town limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
Town in Dolores County, Colorado, United States
Population
336 2024 est.
Land area
0.7 sq mi
Density
496 per sq mi
Coordinates
37.6928° N, 108.0304° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Colorado Plateaus
Drains to
Dolores River → Colorado River → Gulf of California
ZIP codes 1
81332
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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. Ophir9,720 ft
  2. Silverton9,310 ft
  3. Mountain Village9,290 ft
  4. Rico8,810 ft
  5. Telluride8,760 ft
  6. Ouray7,800 ft
  7. Sawpit7,580 ft
  8. Placerville7,460 ft
  9. Mancos7,000 ft
  10. Dolores6,960 ft
  11. Durango6,630 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Wilson14,200 ft
  • Vermilion Peak13,870 ft
  • Middle Peak13,250 ft
  • Blackhawk Mountain12,687 ft
  • Sockrider Peak12,240 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the town 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 town 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); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.