Colorado map

Where Colorado is

Colorado is a near-rectangle in the Mountain West, about 380 miles east to west and 280 miles north to south. Wyoming is to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma and New Mexico to the south, and Utah to the west, with Arizona touching only at Four Corners. The Rocky Mountains run north–south through the middle of the state; Denver and the other large cities sit along the Front Range where the mountains meet the Great Plains. Roughly the eastern 40 percent is plains, the western third is plateau and canyon country, and the mountains lie between.

Major cities

Geography

• Mount Elbert — 14,440 feet, the highest point in the Rocky Mountains and the second-highest in the contiguous US. Colorado has more than 50 peaks over 14,000 feet.
• Continental Divide — runs the length of the state through Rocky Mountain National Park and the Sawatch and San Juan ranges. See the Continental Divide map.
• Headwaters — the Colorado, Arkansas, Rio Grande and South Platte rivers all rise in Colorado's mountains.
• Eastern Plains — the western edge of the Great Plains; the lowest point, 3,317 feet on the Arikaree River at the Kansas line, is the highest low point of any state.
• San Luis Valley — a high, flat basin in the south around Alamosa, holding Great Sand Dunes National Park, the tallest dunes in North America.
• Western Slope — the plateau country west of the Divide, drained by the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, with Grand Mesa and Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Borders

Every Colorado border is a surveyed line: the 41st parallel on the north with Wyoming and Nebraska, the 37th parallel on the south with Oklahoma and New Mexico, and meridians on the east (102°03′W with Nebraska and Kansas) and west (109°03′W with Utah). Because surveyors could not follow the lines perfectly, the real boundaries have hundreds of small kinks, and the state is not a true rectangle. The southwest corner at Four Corners is the meeting point with Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Regions of Colorado

The Front Range urban corridor (Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo), the Eastern Plains, the central mountains and ski country (Summit County, Vail, Aspen), the Western Slope (Grand Junction, Durango, the San Juan Mountains) and the San Luis Valley in the south. North Park, Middle Park and South Park are three high mountain basins in the centre of the state.

Related maps

• Colorado county map — all 64 counties with seats.
• Blank Colorado map — outline for printing.
• Printable Colorado map.
• Denver — the Mile High City on the South Platte River.
• Neighbors: Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona.
• Region: West · Mountain · Rocky Mountains.
• Time zone: Mountain.
• Geography: Rocky Mountains, Continental Divide, Four Corners, Highest points.