Columbia Falls, MT Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Columbia Falls, Montana, shaded from 3,000 ft on the southwest side to 3,140 ft on the northeast side
Elevation
3,140 ft 955 m3,100 ft 945 m3,090 ft 940 m3,050 ft 930 m3,020 ft 920 m3,000 ft 915 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

Columbia Falls sits at about 3,070 ft (935 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
3,070 ft 935 m
most residents: 3,040–3,090 ft
Lowest
3,000 ft 915 m
on the southwest side
Highest
3,140 ft 955 m
on the northeast side
Average
3,060 ft 935 m
all land inside city limits

Columbia Falls spans about 140 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
3,070 ft935 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the northeast side
3,140 ft955 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southwest side
3,000 ft915 m
Town center
USGS map point for Columbia Falls
3,080 ft940 m
Airport (GPI)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 3.8 mi southwest of the city limits
2,977 ft907 m
Average of all land3,060 ft935 m
Nearest peak
Doris Mountain, 6.2 mi southeast of the city limits (NGS survey)
7,441 ft2,268 m

Elevation profile, south to north

1.1 mi south to north through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 3,070 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
206.3 °F96.8 °C

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

Air pressure
89% of sea level

26.8 inHg (90.6 kPa): each breath holds 11% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
18.7% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+6% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Columbia Falls, Montana, shaded from 3,000 ft on the southwest side to 3,140 ft on the northeast side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 10 ft (3 m).
Location
City in Flathead County, Montana, United States
Population
5,713 2024 est.
Land area
2.3 sq mi
Density
2,499 per sq mi
Coordinates
48.3725° N, 114.1815° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Northern Rocky Mountains
Drains to
Flathead River → Clark Fork → Pend Oreille River → Columbia River → Pacific Ocean
Airport
Glacier Park International (GPI) 2,977 ft
ZIP codes 1
59912
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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. Rhodes3,280 ft
  2. Martin City3,230 ft
  3. West Glacier3,230 ft
  4. Coram3,200 ft
  5. Batavia3,130 ft
  6. Hungry Horse3,100 ft
  7. Columbia Falls3,070 ft
  8. Whitefish3,040 ft
  9. Kalispell2,960 ft
  10. Helena Flats2,940 ft
  11. Evergreen2,920 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Doris Mountain7,441 ft
  • Apgar Mountains6,610 ft
  • Desert Mountain6,430 ft
  • Lion Hill4,820 ft
  • Lion Mountain4,370 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.