Nelson County, ND Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Nelson County, North Dakota, shaded from 1,280 ft on the northeast side to 1,670 ft on Blue Mountain
Elevation
1,670 ft 510 m1,570 ft 480 m1,520 ft 465 m1,420 ft 435 m1,330 ft 405 m1,280 ft 390 m
Contours every 500 ft, bold every 2,500 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.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Nelson County averages about 1,500 ft (455 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 1,280 ft on the northeast side to 1,670 ft on Blue Mountain.

Average elevation
1,500 ft 455 m
all land inside the county
Highest
1,670 ft 510 m
on Blue Mountain
Lowest
1,280 ft 390 m
on the northeast side

Nelson County spans about 390 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 land1,500 ft455 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Blue Mountain (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
1,670 ft510 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the northeast side
1,280 ft390 m

Elevation profile, south to north

36 mi south to north through Lakota.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Nelson County, North Dakota, shaded from 1,280 ft on the northeast side to 1,670 ft on Blue Mountain
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
County in North Dakota, United States
Population
3,007 2024 est.
Land area
981.8 sq mi + 27.1 sq mi water
Density
3.1 per sq mi
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform region
Central Lowland
Drains to
Canada 67%, Stump Lake basin (does not reach the sea) 21%
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Benson County1,560 ft
  2. Eddy County1,520 ft
  3. Nelson County1,500 ft
  4. Ramsey County1,500 ft
  5. Griggs County1,450 ft
  6. Steele County1,270 ft
  7. Walsh County1,120 ft
  8. Grand Forks County1,020 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Blue Mountain1,670 ft
All 35 towns in Nelson County by typical elevation
  1. Petersburg1,530 ft
  2. Sarnia Township1,530 ft
  3. Lakota1,520 ft
  4. Michigan Township, Nelson County1,520 ft
  5. Michigan City1,520 ft
  6. Field Township1,520 ft
  7. Williams Township1,520 ft
  8. Enterprise Township1,520 ft
  9. Petersburg Township1,520 ft
  10. Rubin Township1,510 ft
  11. Clara Township1,510 ft
  12. Nash Township1,510 ft
  13. Melvin Township1,510 ft
  14. Lakota Township1,510 ft
  15. Central Township1,510 ft
  16. Lee Township1,510 ft
  17. Dodds Township1,500 ft
  18. Aneta1,500 ft
  19. Rugh Township1,500 ft
  20. Ora Township1,500 ft
  21. Adler Township1,500 ft
  22. Forde Township1,500 ft
  23. Illinois Township1,490 ft
  24. Wamduska Township1,490 ft
  25. Hamlin Township1,470 ft
  26. Leval Township1,470 ft
  27. McVille1,470 ft
  28. Pekin1,470 ft
  29. Bergen Township1,470 ft
  30. Tolna1,460 ft
  31. Dayton Township1,460 ft
  32. Osago Township1,450 ft
  33. Nesheim Township1,450 ft
  34. Dahlen Township1,430 ft
  35. Dahlen1,420 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 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid. Land means the boundary minus Census area water.
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell; 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; 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.