BlockBefore

Drake, Colorado

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Loveland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80515. It stands on North Fork Big Thompson River. The Survey maps it on the Drake quadrangle. It stands 6,161 feet above sea level.

Drake within Larimer County

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 23 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

106 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 106 fires within 5 miles of Drake between 1992 and 2020, burning about 10,868 acres in total. 52 started naturally. 1 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
Natural52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined32
Recreation and ceremony19
Arson/incendiarism1
Debris and open burning1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandSOULSHINE
9 September 1998Natural80 acresArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandSTONE MOUNTAIN #2
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBig Thompson Canyon Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
6 September 2000Naturalunder an acreArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandWALTONIA
30 September 2008Natural10 acresArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandQUILLAN GULCH
3 September 2013Naturalunder an acreArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandCEDAR CREEK
3 September 2013Naturalunder an acreArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandSULZER GULCH
23 September 2008Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreArapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National GrasslandSHEEP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Larimer County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Drake: 6 producers, 4 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 prospect. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Beryllium, Mica, Beryllium, Beryllium, Lithium, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Giant Crystal MineBeryllium, MicaPast Producer1960
Hide Above LodeBeryllium, Lithium, UraniumPast Producer1958
Hyatt Ranch MineFeldspar, Beryllium, Mica, Uranium, Lithium, Bismuth, Phosphorus-PhosphatesProducer1936, 1948
Lewis Beryl MineFeldsparPast Producer
Lewis Beryl ProspectMica, BerylliumOccurrence1943
New Hope ClaimsNiobium (Columbium), Tantalum, Titanium, UraniumProspect
Hide Away and Hide AboveBerylliumOccurrence
Hide-A-Way ClaimBerylliumProducer
Hide-A-Way ClaimBerylliumProducer
HideaboveBerylliumProducer

Every working recorded in Larimer County

Storms near this place

15 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Drake in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 8 hail, 6 flash flood, 1 wildfire. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2022Flash FloodDrake2 killed, $250,000Two people were killed when very heavy rainfall produced flash flooding in the Cameron Peak burn area.
June 2000WildfireDrake$3,000,000no account filed
July 2022Flash FloodDrake$10,000A flash flood was observed along Cedar Creek.
August 2021Flash FloodDrake$10,000A thunderstorm produced localized flash flood damage along Big Bear Road.
August 2024Flash FloodDrake-Several rocks laying across Hwy 34, right off the Alexander Mountain burn scar. This was a delayed report and the time was estimated.
September 2013Flash FloodDrake-Continuous heavy rainfall produced flash flooding. Numerous road closures were reported including Highway 36 from Estes Park to Lyons.
September 2013Flash FloodDrake-Heavy rain continued to produce widespread flash flooding. Non-stop rain caused road closures, washouts and damage throughout the High Park burn area.
June 2025HailDrake-no account filed
July 2019HailDrake-no account filed
August 2018HailDrake-no account filed
July 2011HailDrake-no account filed
May 2008HailDrake-no account filed
June 2004HailDrake-no account filed
August 2004HailDrake-no account filed
May 1998HailDrake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Larimer County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Midway0.9 miles23
Waltonia1.7 miles23
Cedar Cove4.1 miles23
Glen Comfort5.9 miles23
Glen Haven6.0 miles23
Little Dam6.3 miles30
Loveland Heights7.2 miles23
Masonville7.9 miles30

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 DrakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5305577The 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 177661. 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.