Cuchara, Colorado
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the La Veta census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81055. It stands on Dodgeton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Cuchara quadrangle. It stands 8,468 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1954 USGS Trinidad quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Trinidad quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Trinidad quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Trinidad quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Cuchara quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1967 USGS Cuchara quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Alamosa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1988 USGS Trinidad quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Cuchara quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
12 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Cuchara between 1993 and 2020, burning about 13 acres in total. 6 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 | 6 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 August 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | HOPE GULCH |
| 12 August 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | BIG BRANCH |
| 4 July 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Huerfano County | not named |
| 20 July 2016 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | WHITE PEAK |
| 14 July 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | BLACK HILLS TRAIL |
| 8 June 2001 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | YELLOW PINE |
| 3 June 2018 | Natural | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | HIGHWAY 12 |
| 17 June 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Pike and San Isabel National Forest | POWER LINE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Cuchara: 2 prospects, 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, Copper, Copper, Uranium, Uranium, Vanadium, Copper, Uranium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Dottie Prospect | Uranium, Vanadium, Copper | Occurrence | Carnotite | |
| Independent Claim | Copper, Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Spanish Peaks Uranium Occurrence | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Washout Claim | Uranium, Copper | Prospect | Copper, Cuprite |
Storms near this place
14 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cuchara in 14 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 7 flash flood, 4 hail, 2 lightning, 1 debris flow. The reports record 5 injuries. 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 1999 | Lightning | Cuchara | 3 hurt | Three people were injured by a lightning flash approximately 100 yards west of the summit of West Spanish Peak. A 44-year old male experienced a direct hit, while his 41-year old male companion felt the side flash and was thrown against some rocks, suffering a skull fracture. A 7-year old boy also experienced the side flash and was thrown down and suffered facial cuts. |
| July 2006 | Lightning | Cuchara | 2 hurt | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Debris Flow | Cuchara | - | EM reported flow over CO-12 in addition to debris flow. Debris caused some overflow in roadside ditches. County Rd 420 and Indian Creek also experienced similar conditions at this time, but no sperate reports. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | County Highway 12 closed at mile marker 13 for water over the road. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Highway 12 was closed at Big Branch Creek for water and debris over the road. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Flash flooding occurred over Highway 12, with the road closed. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Emergency management reported that Highway 12 was overtopped with water. |
| August 2020 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Highway 12 was over topped and a car became stranded in flood waters. |
| August 2020 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Highway 12 was temporarily closed for a flash flood and minor debris flow off of the Spring burn scar. |
| July 2020 | Flash Flood | Cuchara | - | Flash flooding over toppled Hwy 12 at mile marker 14.5. Hwy 12 saw approx. 3 inches of mud with 3 inches of water on the road over a distance of approximately 90 feet. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Cuchara | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Cuchara | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Cuchara | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Cuchara | - | 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.
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 Cuchara | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5192321 | 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 203635. 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.








