Vail, CO Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Vail, Colorado, shaded from 7,790 ft on the southwest side to 9,440 ft at the foot of the Gore Range
Elevation
9,440 ft 2,880 m9,030 ft 2,750 m8,820 ft 2,690 m8,410 ft 2,565 m7,990 ft 2,435 m7,790 ft 2,375 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.
Town area
Fades everything outside the official town limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Vail sits at about 8,170 ft (2,490 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
8,170 ft 2,490 m
most residents: 7,930–8,550 ft
Lowest
7,790 ft 2,375 m
on the southwest side
Highest
9,440 ft 2,880 m
at the foot of the Gore Range
Average
8,320 ft 2,535 m
all land inside town limits

Vail spans about 1,650 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
8,170 ft2,490 m
Highest point
Inside town limits, at the foot of the Gore Range
9,440 ft2,880 m
Lowest point
Inside town limits, on the southwest side
7,790 ft2,375 m
Town center
USGS map point for Vail
8,180 ft2,490 m
Average of all land8,320 ft2,535 m
Nearest peak
Red and White Mountain, 6.3 mi northwest of the town limits
11,250 ft3,430 m

Elevation profile, west to east

6.2 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 8,170 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
196.8 °F91.5 °C

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

Air pressure
74% of sea level

22.1 inHg (74.8 kPa): each breath holds 26% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
15.5% 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.

CDC: about 1 in 4 visitors who sleep above 8,000 ft get altitude sickness. CDC Yellow Book

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Vail, Colorado, shaded from 7,790 ft on the southwest side to 9,440 ft at the foot of the Gore Range
Town limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
Town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States
Population
4,466 2024 est.
Land area
4.7 sq mi
Density
948 per sq mi
Coordinates
39.6403° N, 106.3742° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Southern Rocky Mountains
Drains to
Eagle River → Colorado River → Gulf of California
ZIP codes 1
81657
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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. Copper Mountain11,530 ft
  2. Fulford9,870 ft
  3. Frisco9,070 ft
  4. Silverthorne8,750 ft
  5. Red Cliff8,660 ft
  6. Vail8,170 ft
  7. Heeney8,010 ft
  8. Minturn7,860 ft
  9. Avon7,490 ft
  10. Edwards7,380 ft
  11. Wolcott7,050 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount of the Holy Cross14,009 ft
  • Mount Jackson13,677 ft
  • Mount Powell13,540 ft
  • Jacque Peak13,210 ft
  • Red and White Mountain11,250 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.