Buford, Colorado
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Meeker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81641. It stands on Gooseberry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Buford quadrangle. It stands 7,028 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1906 USGS Grand Hogback quadrangle1:125000
- 1910 USGS Grand Hogback quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Leadville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Leadville quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Leadville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Leadville quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Leadville quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Buford quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Glenwood Springs quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Buford between 1992 and 2020, burning about 819 acres in total. 12 started naturally. None was 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 | 12 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Craig | BRICKLEN |
| 14 September 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Craig | SMITH |
| 30 August 2013 | Natural | under an acre | White River National Forest | SMITH GULCH |
| 29 August 2002 | Natural | 10 acres | White River National Forest | SAWMILL |
| 28 August 2012 | Natural | under an acre | White River National Forest | DOBBS |
| 11 August 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Craig | BADGER FLAT |
| 8 July 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Rio Blanco County | UNKNOWN |
| 31 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Northwest District, Craig | ELK CREEK |
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Buford: 1 unknown, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Unknown Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
3 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buford in 3 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 1 funnel cloud, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 debris flow. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | Debris Flow | Buford | $5,000 | Law Enforcement reported mud and debris on State Route 8 due to heavy rain on the recent Elk RBX Burn Scar. No reports of damages, injuries, or fatalities, just clearing of the roadway. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Buford | - | A peak wind gust of 86 mph was measured by the Dead Horse automated weather station. |
| June 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Buford | - | A funnel cloud was observed between Meeker and Buford. One of the eyewitnesses shot a photograph of the funnel cloud which came low to the ground. There was some uncertainty whether or not it touched down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornburgh | 15.7 miles | 17 | |
| Meeker | 16.1 miles | 16 | |
| Rio Blanco | 24.5 miles | 18 | |
| White River City | 33.0 miles | 11 | |
| Angora | 52.5 miles | 12 | |
| Rangely | 63.3 miles | 14 |
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 Buford | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q24884862 | 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 173624. 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.








