Sinkhole risk in Lake County, CO: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 5%
At or near the surface: 5%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Lake County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 18 of Lake County's 377 square miles on soluble rock, 18 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,369 residents (20 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 289 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Lake County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 235 miles west. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Pitkin County, CO 30 mi west · 5% at surface
Summit County, CO 31 mi north · 4% at surface
Chaffee County, CO 33 mi south · 4% at surface
Park County, CO 34 mi east · 13% at surface
Eagle County, CO 34 mi northwest · 22% at surface
Clear Creek County, CO 49 mi northeast · 0% at surface

What Lake County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Leadville Limestone, Williams Canyon Limestone , Manitou Limestone, and Sawatch Quartzite (limestone), Mississippian-Cambrian in age, covering about 5% of the county.

Against the rest of Colorado

Lake County ranks 18 of 64 in Colorado for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 63% of US counties on that measure.