Rio Arriba County, NM Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, shaded from 5,530 ft on the southeast side to 13,108 ft on Truchas Peak
Elevation
13,110 ft 3,995 m11,210 ft 3,420 m10,270 ft 3,130 m8,370 ft 2,550 m6,480 ft 1,975 m5,530 ft 1,685 m
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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.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Rio Arriba County averages about 7,670 ft (2,340 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 5,530 ft on the southeast side to 13,108 ft on Truchas Peak.

Average elevation
7,670 ft 2,340 m
all land inside the county
Highest
13,108 ft 3,995 m
on Truchas Peak
Lowest
5,530 ft 1,685 m
on the southeast side

Rio Arriba County spans about 7,580 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where most of its land lies, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Average of all land7,670 ft2,340 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Truchas Peak (NGS survey height)
13,108 ft3,995 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the southeast side
5,530 ft1,685 m

Elevation profile, west to east

40 mi west to east through Española.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, shaded from 5,530 ft on the southeast side to 13,108 ft on Truchas Peak
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
County in New Mexico, United States
Population
39,955 2024 est.
Land area
5,860.9 sq mi + 35.3 sq mi water
Density
6.8 per sq mi
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform regions
Colorado Plateaus 57%, Southern Rocky Mountains 43%
Drains to
Gulf of America 63%, Gulf of California 38%
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Conejos County, CO9,000 ft
  2. Taos County8,500 ft
  3. Archuleta County, CO8,230 ft
  4. Rio Arriba County7,670 ft
  5. Los Alamos County7,520 ft
  6. Mora County7,190 ft
  7. Santa Fe County6,880 ft
  8. Sandoval County6,710 ft
  9. San Juan County6,050 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Trampas Peak12,170 ft
  • Chicoma Mountain11,561 ft
  • Grouse Mesa11,410 ft
  • Canjilon Mountain10,920 ft
  • San Antonio Mountain10,912 ft
All 41 towns in Rio Arriba County by typical elevation
  1. Truchas8,050 ft
  2. Canjilon7,870 ft
  3. Chama7,870 ft
  4. Gallina7,670 ft
  5. Ensenada7,560 ft
  6. Tierra Amarilla7,500 ft
  7. Ojo Sarco7,430 ft
  8. Brazos7,400 ft
  9. Los Ojos7,340 ft
  10. Lindrith7,260 ft
  11. Lybrook7,200 ft
  12. Cordova6,990 ft
  13. Dulce6,870 ft
  14. Lumberton6,860 ft
  15. El Rito6,790 ft
  16. Coyote6,750 ft
  17. Youngsville6,690 ft
  18. Cañones6,670 ft
  19. La Madera, Rio Arriba County6,590 ft
  20. Rio Chiquito partly6,490 ft
  21. Ojo Caliente partly6,260 ft
  22. Abiquiu6,130 ft
  23. Chimayo6,100 ft
  24. Dixon6,080 ft
  25. Medanales5,920 ft
  26. Velarde5,780 ft
  27. Canova5,780 ft
  28. Los Luceros5,770 ft
  29. La Villita5,750 ft
  30. Chili5,740 ft
  31. Lyden5,730 ft
  32. El Duende5,710 ft
  33. Chamita5,700 ft
  34. Hernandez5,700 ft
  35. Pueblito5,690 ft
  36. Alcalde5,690 ft
  37. Ohkay Owingeh5,670 ft
  38. San Jose5,660 ft
  39. Española5,630 ft
  40. Santa Clara Pueblo5,630 ft
  41. La Mesilla5,600 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census county boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 2 arc-second (≈200 ft, 62 m) grid, coarsened from 1 arc-second so the whole area fits one run. Land means the boundary minus Census area water (on this grid, water areas of at least half a cell).
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 highest grid cells; it is a named summit, so its height is the peak method: the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it. Lowest: the lowest land cell, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 lowest grid cells; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
  • Nearby Places: neighboring counties and rankings use each one's average elevation, on its own grid, the same figure its page shows. Peaks and hills: the highest summits inside the county with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence, then the highest federal (GNIS) summits inside it 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).
  • Towns: each town's typical elevation (population-weighted median of its own 2020 blocks at 1 arc-second); a town is listed when any of its 2020 residents live in the county.
  • 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 (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 (TIGER boundaries and water, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, county adjacency); NOAA NGS survey heights; BTS time zones. All public domain.