Corson County, SD Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Corson County, South Dakota, shaded from 1,600 ft on the east side to 2,710 ft on Thunder Hawk Butte
Elevation
2,710 ft 825 m2,430 ft 740 m2,290 ft 700 m2,020 ft 615 m1,740 ft 530 m1,600 ft 490 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

Corson County averages about 2,100 ft (640 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 1,600 ft on the east side to 2,710 ft on Thunder Hawk Butte.

Average elevation
2,100 ft 640 m
all land inside the county
Highest
2,710 ft 825 m
on Thunder Hawk Butte
Lowest
1,600 ft 490 m
on the east side

Corson County spans about 1,110 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 land2,100 ft640 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Thunder Hawk Butte (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
2,710 ft825 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the east side
1,600 ft490 m

Elevation profile, west to east

78 mi west to east through McLaughlin.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Corson County, South Dakota, shaded from 1,600 ft on the east side to 2,710 ft on Thunder Hawk Butte
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
County in South Dakota, United States
Population
3,747 2024 est.
Land area
2,469.7 sq mi + 60.0 sq mi water
Density
1.5 per sq mi
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Great Plains
Drains to
Gulf of America
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Adams County, ND2,630 ft
  2. Perkins County2,600 ft
  3. Ziebach County2,270 ft
  4. Corson County2,100 ft
  5. Sioux County, ND2,020 ft
  6. Dewey County2,010 ft
  7. Walworth County1,910 ft
  8. Emmons County, ND1,890 ft
  9. Campbell County1,800 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Thunder Hawk Butte2,710 ft
  • Black Horse Butte2,626 ft
  • Twin Butte, Corson County2,460 ft
  • Hump Butte2,430 ft
  • Skull Butte2,370 ft
All 14 towns in Corson County by typical elevation
  1. Custer Township, Corson County2,390 ft
  2. McIntosh2,300 ft
  3. Rolling Green Township2,290 ft
  4. Watauga Township2,260 ft
  5. Morristown2,250 ft
  6. Prairie View Township2,230 ft
  7. Pleasant Ridge Township2,230 ft
  8. McLaughlin2,000 ft
  9. Kenel1,980 ft
  10. Bullhead1,910 ft
  11. Ridgeland Township1,860 ft
  12. Little Eagle1,660 ft
  13. Wakpala1,650 ft
  14. Wakpala Township1,650 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.
  • Pits: the lowest point is the lowest ground outside closed hollows (quarry floors, mine pits, terrain-model artifacts): any hollow under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²), and any hollow under 2 sq mi (5 km²) whose floor is more than 100 ft (30 m) below its rim; and outside patches below sea level of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²). The single lowest 3DEP cell, 1,600 ft at 45.5799° N, 100.4399° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted.
  • 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.