Mountain Plains, SD Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Mountain Plains, South Dakota, shaded from 3,700 ft on the northeast side to 4,690 ft at the foot of the Black Hills
Elevation
4,690 ft 1,430 m4,450 ft 1,355 m4,320 ft 1,315 m4,070 ft 1,240 m3,830 ft 1,165 m3,700 ft 1,130 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.
Area
Fades everything outside the official CDP boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Mountain Plains sits at about 4,230 ft (1,290 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
4,230 ft 1,290 m
most residents: 3,890–4,450 ft
Lowest
3,700 ft 1,130 m
on the northeast side
Highest
4,690 ft 1,430 m
at the foot of the Black Hills
Average
4,140 ft 1,260 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

Mountain Plains spans about 990 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
4,230 ft1,290 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the Black Hills
4,690 ft1,430 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the northeast side
3,700 ft1,130 m
Town center
USGS map point for Mountain Plains
4,220 ft1,285 m
Airport (SPF)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 3.1 mi east of the CDP boundary
3,933 ft1,199 m
Average of all land4,140 ft1,260 m

Elevation profile, south to north

1.4 mi south to north through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 4,230 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
204.2 °F95.6 °C

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

Air pressure
86% of sea level

25.6 inHg (86.8 kPa): each breath holds 14% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.9% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+8% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Mountain Plains, South Dakota, shaded from 3,700 ft on the northeast side to 4,690 ft at the foot of the Black Hills
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States
Population
327 2020 Census
Land area
1.6 sq mi
Density
205 per sq mi
Coordinates
44.4689° N, 103.8648° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Great Plains
Drains to
Belle Fourche River → Cheyenne River → Missouri River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
Airport
Black Hills-clyde Ice Field (SPF) 3,933 ft
ZIP codes 1
57783
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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. Lead5,310 ft
  2. Central City4,940 ft
  3. Deadwood4,710 ft
  4. Mountain Plains4,230 ft
  5. Crook City3,750 ft
  6. Spearfish3,680 ft
  7. Whitewood3,630 ft
  8. North Spearfish3,560 ft
  9. Beulah, WY3,510 ft
  10. St. Onge3,430 ft
  11. St. Onge Township3,430 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Black Elk Peak7,200 ft
  • Green Mountain7,160 ft
  • Warren Peaks6,650 ft
  • Lookout Peak4,460 ft
  • Bear Butte4,427 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the CDP boundary, 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 CDP boundary (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.
  • Mountain Plains is an unincorporated community; figures cover the census-designated place, a statistical area.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.