Buffalo Creek, Colorado
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the South Jefferson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80425. It lies near Spring Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Pine quadrangle. It stands 6,762 feet above sea level.
On record in Buffalo Creek
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 4 records
Blue Jay Innlisted 1974
Green Mercantile Storelisted 1974
Green Mountain Ranchlisted 1974- La Haciendalisted 1973
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 33 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1893 USGS Platte Canyon quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1945 USGS Pine quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Pine quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1957 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Pine quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1983 USGS Bailey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Pine quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
263 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 263 fires within 5 miles of Buffalo Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 16,736 acres in total. 132 started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 132 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 28 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | North Fork Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 7 September 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | SANDY |
| 5 September 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | 538 |
| 5 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | North Fork Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 4 September 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | LONG SCRAGGY |
| 4 September 1994 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | not named |
| 3 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | North Fork Fire Protection District | N/A |
| 3 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | SHOOTER 2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 62 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 62 workings within 5 miles of Buffalo Creek: 24 producers, 20 past producers, 10 occurrences, 8 unknowns. 24 still produce. What was taken out: Feldspar, Quartz, Fluorine-Fluorite, Feldspar, Quartz. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Big Bear No. 2 Mine | Feldspar, REE | Past Producer | Microcline | |
| Big Bertha Mine | Quartz, Feldspar, Thorium, REE | Past Producer | 1947, 1953 | |
| Buffalo Mine | Lead, Gold, Silver, Fluorine-Fluorite | Past Producer | 1895, 1898 | |
| Butte #1 | Feldspar, Quartz, Fluorine-Fluorite | Producer | Fluorite, Quartz | |
| Catherine #1 Claim | Mica, Fluorine-Fluorite, Gemstone, Feldspar, Quartz | Occurrence | Fluorite, Mica, Quartz, Topaz | |
| Cooper Quarry | Quartz, Feldspar, Uranium, Thorium, REE | Past Producer | 1968 | |
| Dazie Bell Mine | Quartz, Fluorine-Fluorite, REE, Manganese | Past Producer | 1965 | |
| Delbert Claims #1 & 2 | Feldspar, Quartz, Mica, Fluorine-Fluorite | Producer | Feldspar, Fluorite, Mica, Quartz | |
| Judy Ann Mine | Quartz, Mica, Feldspar, Fluorine-Fluorite, REE | Occurrence | Fluorite, Gadolinite, Muscovite, Quartz |
Storms near this place
10 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buffalo Creek in 10 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 5 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 lightning. The reports record 2 deaths. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | Flash Flood | Buffalo Creek | 2 killed, $520,000 | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Buffalo Creek | $10,000 | Heavy rain produced multiple mudslides on and near Highway 126. The roadway was closed until the debris could be cleared. |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Buffalo Creek | - | Heavy rain, up to 3 inches in an hour, caused a flash flood along Buffalo Creek, Portions of County Road 126, just south of the town of Buffalo Creek, were washed out. The floodwaters near washed away the bridge as mud and debris slammed into the structure. It was almost 2 years to the day that a deadly flash flood rushed through the small town killing 2 residents. |
| August 2023 | Hail | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Lightning | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
| September 1996 | Flash Flood | Buffalo Creek | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverview | 0.8 miles | 33 | |
| Ferndale | 1.6 miles | 33 | |
| Foxton | 3.2 miles | 27 | |
| Pine Grove | 3.3 miles | 33 | |
| Sphinx Park | 3.5 miles | 33 | |
| Indian Springs Village | 4.1 miles | 33 | |
| Dome Rock | 4.6 miles | 27 | |
| Longview | 4.6 miles | 27 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Buffalo Creek | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4985704 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 183309. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









