Sinkhole risk in Rolette County, ND: No soluble rock mapped

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 903 square miles, under one square mile of Rolette County maps onto soluble rock. With about 11,692 residents (13 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 374 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Rolette County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 409 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Towner County, ND 28 mi east · 0% at surface
• Pierce County, ND 37 mi south · 0% at surface
• Bottineau County, ND 45 mi west · 0% at surface
• McHenry County, ND 52 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Benson County, ND 53 mi southeast · 0% at surface
• Ramsey County, ND 61 mi southeast · 0% at surface

Against the rest of North Dakota

Rolette County ranks 42 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Cavalier County 2%
• Ransom County under 1%
• Dunn County under 1%
• Barnes County under 1%
• Slope County under 1%