Colorado Counties Map: Click All 64 Counties

How many counties are in Colorado?

Colorado has 64 counties. 23 states have more, and 25 have fewer.

Colorado has 64 counties. Broomfield is the newest: the City and County of Broomfield began in 2001, carved from four neighboring counties. Denver is also a consolidated city and county, and it holds the state capital.

How Colorado's counties were formed

The first Colorado Territorial Legislature created 17 counties in 1861. Mining rushes and homesteading split them again and again, and Colorado reached 63 counties by 1913. The City and County of Denver was formed in 1902, and the City and County of Broomfield became the 64th county in 2001, drawn from parts of Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld counties.

Colorado regions and the counties in each

Colorado's map has four strips from east to west. The Eastern Plains counties, such as Yuma, Kit Carson, Prowers and Baca, are big rectangles of farm and ranch land. The Front Range urban corridor runs along the mountains from Larimer County (Fort Collins) through Boulder, Denver and Arapahoe to El Paso (Colorado Springs) and Pueblo. The Rocky Mountain counties include Summit, Eagle, Lake, Chaffee and Hinsdale. The Western Slope holds Mesa (Grand Junction), Garfield, Montrose and Montezuma, with Mesa Verde in the southwest corner.

Notable places on the Colorado county map

Mount Elbert, at 14,433 feet the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains, is in Lake County. Rocky Mountain National Park spans Larimer, Grand and Boulder counties, Great Sand Dunes National Park sits in Alamosa and Saguache counties, and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde are in Montezuma County. Even the state's lowest point, on the Arikaree River in Yuma County, is more than 3,300 feet above sea level.

Colorado counties map: the biggest and smallest

Las Animas County is the largest county in Colorado, with 4,773 square miles of land, about 5% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Delaware and Rhode Island. Broomfield County is the smallest, at 33 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Broomfield County (33 sq mi), Gilpin County (150 sq mi) and Denver County (153 sq mi).

Which counties in Colorado have the most people?

El Paso County has the most people, about 752,772 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 13% of everyone in Colorado. The three biggest counties together hold 36% of the state's 5,957,493 people. Hinsdale County has the fewest, about 747.

The most crowded is Denver County, with about 4,762 people per square mile. The emptiest is Hinsdale County, with less than one person per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Denver in?

Denver, the capital of Colorado, is in Denver County. Denver County ranks 2nd of 64 by population. Colorado is called the Centennial State, and it became the 38th state in 1876.

Counties on the Colorado border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Colorado shares a border with Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

How Colorado's counties compare with other states

Colorado ranks 8th among the 50 states in land area and 21st in population. Its average county covers about 1,619 square miles and holds about 93,086 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Colorado's counties are bigger than usual in size. Bigger counties mean fewer names to learn for a state this size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Colorado

• The Front Range counties (Larimer, Boulder, Denver, Arapahoe, El Paso) hold most of the people, east of the mountains.
• The Rocky Mountain counties fill the middle, with tiny Hinsdale County among them.
• The eastern plains counties stretch flat to Kansas and Nebraska.

With 64 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Colorado county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 64 Colorado counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Colorado geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the West states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in colorado, and check colorado school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Colorado history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.