Rifle, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rifle, Colorado, shaded from 5,250 ft on the west side to 5,960 ft on the southeast edge, below higher ground just outside
Elevation
5,960 ft 1,815 m5,780 ft 1,760 m5,690 ft 1,735 m5,510 ft 1,680 m5,340 ft 1,625 m5,250 ft 1,600 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

Rifle sits at about 5,450 ft (1,660 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
5,450 ft 1,660 m
most residents: 5,350–5,550 ft
Lowest
5,250 ft 1,600 m
on the west side
Highest
5,960 ft 1,815 m
on the southeast edge, below higher ground just outside
Average
5,450 ft 1,660 m
all land inside city limits

Rifle spans about 710 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
5,450 ft1,660 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the southeast edge, below higher ground just outside
5,960 ft1,815 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the west side
5,250 ft1,600 m
Town center
USGS map point for Rifle
5,350 ft1,630 m
Airport (RIL)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 0.2 mi east of the city limits
5,537 ft1,688 m
Average of all land5,450 ft1,660 m

Elevation profile, south to north

3.7 mi south to north through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 5,450 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
201.9 °F94.4 °C

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

Air pressure
82% of sea level

24.5 inHg (82.9 kPa): each breath holds 18% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.1% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+11% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rifle, Colorado, shaded from 5,250 ft on the west side to 5,960 ft on the southeast edge, below higher ground just outside
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Garfield County, Colorado, United States
Population
10,663 2024 est.
Land area
7.1 sq mi + 0.1 sq mi water
Density
1,502 per sq mi
Coordinates
39.5347° N, 107.7831° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Colorado Plateaus
Drains to
Colorado River → Gulf of California
Airport
Rifle Garfield County (RIL) 5,537 ft
ZIP codes 1
81650
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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. Carbonate10,860 ft
  2. Collbran6,020 ft
  3. Chacra5,860 ft
  4. Glenwood Springs5,830 ft
  5. No Name5,820 ft
  6. New Castle5,730 ft
  7. Silt5,480 ft
  8. Rifle5,450 ft
  9. Battlement Mesa5,320 ft
  10. Parachute5,110 ft
  11. De Beque4,950 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Haystack Mountain10,980 ft
  • Spruce Mountain10,838 ft
  • Flagpole Mountain10,610 ft
  • Sunlight Peak10,600 ft
  • Monument Peak9,211 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.