The Geography of Colorado

Longitude / Latitude Longitude: 102 W to

109 W
Latitude: 37 N to 41 N

Colorado base and elevation maps

Length x Width Colorado is 380 miles
long and 280 miles wide.
Geographic Center
Explanation
The geographic center of
Colorado is located in
Park County, 30 miles
NW of Pike's Peak.
Longitude: 105 38.5'W
Latitude: 38 59.9'N
Borders Colorado is bordered by Wyoming and Nebraska on the north. To the south
is New Mexico and Oklahoma. In the east, Colorado is bordered by Nebraska and
Kansas and to the west by Utah. The southwest corner of Colorado
meets Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. This spot is known as Four Corners.
Total Area Colorado covers 104,100 square miles, making it the 8th largest of the 50 states.
Land Area 103,730 square miles of Colorado are land areas.
Water Area Only 371 square miles of Colorado are covered by water.
Highest Point The highest point in Colorado, and in the Rocky Mountains, is Mt. Elbert at 14,440
feet above sea level. Colorado is home to more mountains 14,000 feet or higher
than any other state.
Lowest Point The lowest point in Colorado is the Arkansas River at 3,315 feet above sea level.
Mean Elevation The Mean Elevation of the state of Colorado is 6,800 feet above sea level. This is
the highest mean altitude of any of the 50 states.
Major Rivers Colorado River, Rio Grande, Arkansas River, South Platte River
Major Lakes Grand Lake, Blue Mesa Reservoir, John Martin Reservoir
The Land
Located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, Colorado is not all mountainous. In fact, the
eastern 2/5 of the state is quite flat. Colorado is rightly considered a state that reaches great altitudes
however. The mean elevation of Colorado is higher than any other state and Colorado is the home of 54
mountain peaks that reach over 14,000 feet into the sky. The land areas of Colorado can be classified
into four different regions; the Great Plains in the eastern 2/5 of the state, the Rocky Mountains in the
central 2/5 of the state, the Colorado Plateau along the western 1/5 of the state and a small area known
as the Intermountain Basin that lies north of the Colorado Plateau.
Great Plains: The Great Plains region is part of the Interior Plain of North
America that runs from Canada in the north, through the United States, to
Mexico in the south. The Great Plains region covers, roughly, the eastern 2/5 of
the state. The land is flat and dry, sloping gently upward from east to west to
meet the Rocky Mountains.
Rocky Mountains: Colorado is probably most thought of as a mountain state,
perhaps because the mean elevation of Colorado is higher than any other state;
6,800 feet above sea level. The Rocky Mountain region of Colorado lies to the
west of the Great Plains and occupies, roughly, the central 2/5 of the state. The
Colorado Rocky Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountain chain of ranges that
stretches from Alaska to Mexico. Colorado supports the highest mountain
peaks in this mountain chain. 54 peaks reach altitudes of over 14,000 feet
above sea level and more than 1,000 peaks are over 10,000 feet high.
The Continental Divide runs through the Colorado Rockies. The Rivers and
streams on the east side of the Continental Divide flow toward the Atlantic
Ocean. The rivers and streams on the west of the Divide flow toward the Pacific Ocean. The United
States Geological Survey presents an interesting assessment of the biological resources of the Rocky
Mountains in their Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources.

Map courtesy of
The Geologic Story
of the Great Plains
by Donald E. Trimble
The mountainous regions of Colorado are the headwaters for six major
rivers. On the east of the Continental Divide the Rio Grande, North
Platte, South Platte, Arkansas and Republican Rivers all flow toward the
Atlantic Ocean. On the west of the Continental Divide, the Colorado
River flows toward the Pacific Ocean.
Five mountain ranges make up the Colorado Rocky Mountains; the
Front Range, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Park Range,
the Sawatch Range and the San Juan Mountains.
The Front Range is the easternmost of the ranges and, along with
the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the south, form a mountain wall that
separates the Rocky Mountain region from the Great Plains region in
eastern Colorado. Pikes Peak (14,110 feet) is found in the Front Range.
West of the Front Range is the Park Range which stretches from a point
near the Wyoming border in north to the Arkansas River in central
Colorado. South of the Park Range is the Sawatch Range where you'll
find the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains; Mount Elbert (14,433
feet). The San Juan Mountain Range lies in the southwestern part of the
Colorado Rockies.

Colorado Plateau: To the west of the Rocky Mountains and running along the border of Utah is
the Colorado Plateau. This area of hills, deep valleys, plateaus and flat topped mountains, called mesas,
occupies the western 1/5 of Colorado. Read about the Eco regions of the Colorado Plateau on the Sierra
Club's web site.
Intermontane Basin: The Intermontane Basin lies in the northwest corner of Colorado. The
Intermontane Basin, characterized by rolling forested hills, plateaus and plenty of sagebrush, is the
smallest land area in Colorado.


Colorado Stream
Photo by James Bynum
Climate (All temperatures Fahrenheit)
Highest Temperature The highest temperature recorded in Colorado is 118, Fahrenheit. This record
high was recorded on July 11, 1888 at Bennett.
Lowest Temperature The lowest temperature in Colorado, -61, was recorded on February 1, 1985 at
Maybell.
Average Temperature Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 98.8 degrees to a low of
36.2 degrees.
Climate Average yearly precipitation for Colorado, from 1971 to 2000, is shown on this
chart from Oregon State University.