Sierra County, NM Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Sierra County, New Mexico, shaded from 3,900 ft on the east side to 10,160 ft on McKnight Mountain
Elevation
10,160 ft 3,095 m8,590 ft 2,620 m7,810 ft 2,380 m6,250 ft 1,905 m4,690 ft 1,430 m3,900 ft 1,190 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

Sierra County averages about 5,480 ft (1,670 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 3,900 ft on the east side to 10,160 ft on McKnight Mountain.

Average elevation
5,480 ft 1,670 m
all land inside the county
Highest
10,160 ft 3,095 m
on McKnight Mountain
Lowest
3,900 ft 1,190 m
on the east side

Sierra County spans about 6,260 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 land5,480 ft1,670 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on McKnight Mountain (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
10,160 ft3,095 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the east side
3,900 ft1,190 m

Elevation profile, west to east

87 mi west to east through Truth or Consequences.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Sierra County, New Mexico, shaded from 3,900 ft on the east side to 10,160 ft on McKnight Mountain
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
County in New Mexico, United States
Population
11,389 2024 est.
Land area
4,181.2 sq mi + 57.0 sq mi water
Density
2.7 per sq mi
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Basin and Range
Drains to
Gulf of America 46%, Red Lake basin (does not reach the sea) 17%, Big Salt Lake basin (does not reach the sea) 13%, Flat Lake basin (does not reach the sea) 13%
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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

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Catron County7,380 ft
  2. Socorro County6,000 ft
  3. Lincoln County5,860 ft
  4. Grant County5,790 ft
  5. Sierra County5,480 ft
  6. Otero County5,270 ft
  7. Luna County4,510 ft
  8. Doña Ana County4,450 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Salinas Peak8,967 ft
  • Jaralosa Mountain8,332 ft
  • Skillet Knob7,617 ft
  • Timber Mountain7,580 ft
  • Kaylor Mountain7,220 ft
All 11 towns in Sierra County by typical elevation
  1. Kingston6,310 ft
  2. Winston6,190 ft
  3. Hillsboro5,300 ft
  4. Elephant Butte4,530 ft
  5. Hot Springs Landing4,510 ft
  6. Truth or Consequences4,310 ft
  7. Las Palomas4,270 ft
  8. Caballo4,260 ft
  9. Oasis4,250 ft
  10. Williamsburg4,240 ft
  11. Arrey4,180 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.