Sawpit, Colorado
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Telluride census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81430. It stands on Fall Creek. The Survey maps it on the Little Cone quadrangle. 38 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7,592 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresSawpit fell from 40 to 38 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 40 | |
| 2020 | 38 | -2 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 14 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.
- 1953 USGS Little Cone quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1956 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Dove Creek quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
41 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Sawpit between 1993 and 2020, burning about 73 acres in total. 13 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 |
| Natural | 13 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Telluride Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 29 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests | not named |
| 8 August 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Southwest District, Montrose | PLACERVILE |
| 5 August 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests | WHIPPLE MOUNTAIN |
| 30 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Telluride Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 22 August 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests | WHIPPLE |
| 18 August 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests | WHIPPLE |
| 1 August 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests | GRAYHEAD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 86 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 86 workings within 5 miles of Sawpit: 60 past producers, 12 occurrences, 11 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Uranium, Vanadium, Uranium, Vanadium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor Corp. Mill | Lead, Uranium, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Bear Creek Mine | Vanadium, Uranium, Lead, Selenium | Past Producer | 1903, 1910, 1957 | |
| Belle Champion Mine | Silver, Gold, Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Limonite, Sphalerite | |
| Belle Champion Mine | Gold, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Silver | Unknown | ||
| Binkley-Sawpit Project | Gold, Lead, Copper, Silver, Zinc | Occurrence | 1892 | |
| Black King Mine | Copper, Silver, Gold, Uranium, Vanadium, Lead, Zinc, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Chromium, Titanium, Metal | Past Producer | 1885, 1952 | |
| Blue Bird Mine | Silver, Gold, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | 1977 | |
| Carpenter Tunnel | Uranium, Gold, Vanadium | Unknown | ||
| Crescent City | Gold, Lead, Silver, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Deep Creek Placer | Limestone, General | Past Producer | 1968, 1975 |
Storms near this place
14 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sawpit in 14 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 8 debris flow, 4 flash flood, 2 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2021 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | $10,000 | A large mudslide occurred across Colorado Highway 145 near Sawpit as a result of heavy rains. The highway was closed for a couple of hours due to cleanup operations. The most severe slide occurred at mile marker 79 with 1 to 2 feet of debris and boulders across the road. |
| July 2022 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | $5,000 | San Miguel County Sheriff's Office reported a mudslide between mile markers 77 and 80 along Colorado Highway 145 near Sawpit and Fall Creek Road. Additionally, there were rocks the size of cars that were caught up in the debris flow and water was 2 to 3 feet deep in some spots across the road. |
| July 2016 | Flash Flood | Sawpit | $5,000 | Flash floods and mud slides closed roads, including Highway 145, in and around Sawpit and Placerville. Minor damage occurred to some personal property. |
| May 2023 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | $500 | Increased flood waters due to rapid snowmelt led to water and debris across Fall Creek Road from County Road 56L to the Little Cone Ranch Subdivision. The road was closed for several hours. |
| August 2022 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | $500 | A mudslide occurred as a result of heavy rain from thunderstorms near Sawpit along Colorado Highway 145. |
| August 2016 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | $500 | Highway 145 between Sawpit and Placerville was closed due to a flow of water, mud, and debris that washed over the road at several points, especially at mile markers 78 and 82. |
| July 2021 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | - | San Miguel Sheriff's Office reported a tree and mud over Colorado Highway 145 as a result of heavy rains. |
| July 2019 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | - | A mudslide occurred a half a mile up Fall Creek Road near Colorado Highway 145. |
| July 2014 | Flash Flood | Sawpit | - | Numerous mudslides were reported along Highway 145 between Placerville and Sawpit and disrupted traffic. |
| August 2013 | Debris Flow | Sawpit | - | A debris flow induced by heavy rainfall impeded travel on Highway 145 for over an hour. |
| July 2010 | Heavy Rain | Sawpit | - | Runoff from heavy rain caused numerous rocks and mud to wash over Highway 145 in Sawpit, as well as areas along the highway between mile markers 77-79 and 72-74. |
| July 2004 | Heavy Rain | Sawpit | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Flash Flood | Sawpit | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Flash Flood | Sawpit | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanadium | 2.5 miles | 27 | |
| Placerville | 3.1 miles | 18 | |
| Lime | 4.7 miles | 27 | |
| Leonard (historical) | 4.9 miles | 18 | |
| Vance Junction | 6.8 miles | 27 | |
| Ilium | 7.1 miles | 27 | |
| Keystone | 7.3 miles | 27 | |
| Noel | 8.6 miles | 18 |
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 Sawpit | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2025318 | 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 202389. 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.






