Sinkhole risk in Huerfano County, CO: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 23%
At or near the surface: 23%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 369 of Huerfano County's 1,591 square miles on soluble rock, 369 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 6,988 residents (4 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 521 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Huerfano County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clark County, KS, about 284 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Custer County, CO 36 mi northwest · under 1% at surface
Costilla County, CO 38 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Pueblo County, CO 42 mi northeast · 45% at surface
Alamosa County, CO 46 mi west · 0% at surface
Las Animas County, CO 56 mi southeast · 29% at surface
Fremont County, CO 59 mi northwest · 12% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Fm (shale), Cretaceous in age, covering about 11% of the county. Next is the Carlile Shale, Greenhorn Limestone, and Graneros Shale at 10%.

Against the rest of Colorado

Huerfano County ranks 7 of 64 in Colorado for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.