Whatcom County, WA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Whatcom County, Washington, shaded from sea level on Bellingham Bay to 10,770 ft on Mount Baker
Elevation
10,770 ft 3,285 m8,080 ft 2,460 m6,730 ft 2,050 m4,040 ft 1,230 m1,350 ft 410 m0 ft 0 m
Zoom in for contour lines
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

Whatcom County averages about 3,030 ft (920 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from sea level on Bellingham Bay to 10,770 ft on Mount Baker.

Average elevation
3,030 ft 920 m
all land inside the county
Highest
10,770 ft 3,285 m
on Mount Baker
Lowest
0 ft 0 m
at sea level on Bellingham Bay

Whatcom County spans about 10,770 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 land3,030 ft920 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Mount Baker (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
10,770 ft3,285 m
Lowest point
Where the land meets Bellingham Bay
0 ft0 m

Elevation profile, west to east

95 mi west to east through Bellingham.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Whatcom County, Washington, shaded from sea level on Bellingham Bay to 10,770 ft on Mount Baker
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
County in Washington, United States
Population
234,954 2024 est.
Land area
2,107.9 sq mi + 396.9 sq mi water
Density
111 per sq mi
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform regions
Cascade-sierra Mountains 76%, Pacific Border 23%
Drains to
Strait of Juan de Fuca 88%, Canada 13%
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Okanogan County3,780 ft
  2. Whatcom County3,030 ft
  3. Skagit County2,430 ft
  4. San Juan County290 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Mount Baker10,770 ft
  • Mount Shuksan9,100 ft
  • Jack Mountain9,070 ft
  • Mount Spickard8,980 ft
  • Mount Redoubt8,960 ft
All 19 towns in Whatcom County by typical elevation
  1. Glacier1,040 ft
  2. Maple Falls640 ft
  3. Sudden Valley520 ft
  4. Peaceful Valley500 ft
  5. Kendall460 ft
  6. Geneva440 ft
  7. Acme330 ft
  8. Deming200 ft
  9. Bellingham170 ft
  10. Marietta-Alderwood130 ft
  11. Point Roberts110 ft
  12. Lynden110 ft
  13. Ferndale98 ft
  14. Everson89 ft
  15. Nooksack87 ft
  16. Blaine65 ft
  17. Birch Bay49 ft
  18. Custer45 ft
  19. Sumas41 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, −15 ft at 48.6779° N, 122.5029° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted; this coastal land's lowest point is sea level on the coast.
  • 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.