Towaoc, Colorado
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Ute Mountain census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81334. The Survey maps it on the Towaoc quadrangle. 1,120 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,912 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresTowaoc grew from 1,087 to 1,120 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 | 1,087 | |
| 2020 | 1,120 | +33 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 9 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.
- 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
- 1966 USGS Towaoc quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Cortez quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
773 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 773 fires within 5 miles of Towaoc between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,564 acres in total. 281 started naturally. 45 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 | 281 |
| Fireworks | 126 |
| Debris and open burning | 108 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98 |
| Smoking | 61 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 45 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 25 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Other causes | 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 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | 871 |
| 8 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | NBEARDNC#3 |
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | CROSSCYN |
| 5 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | LITTEL BEAR |
| 5 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | FIRST LAKE 2 |
| 5 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | GOAT |
| 4 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | FIRST LAKE |
| 30 September 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Ute Mountain Ute Agency | LITTLE BEAR |
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 Towaoc: 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towaoc Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel |
Storms near this place
10 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Towaoc in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 3 heavy rain, 2 lightning, 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2005 | Heavy Rain | Towaoc | $30,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Towaoc | $2,000 | no account filed |
| September 2024 | Debris Flow | Towaoc | - | Heavy Rainfall just east, northeast of Towaoc resulted in debris flows across Highline ditch/canal. Debris flow with mud and large boulders were noted near mile marker 29 on Highway 491 (between 21 Rd and B Rd). |
| August 2012 | Flash Flood | Towaoc | - | Runoff from heavy rainfall closed the intersection of highways 491 and 160 due to fast flowing water in excess of 6 inches deep flowing over the roadway. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Towaoc | - | Outflow winds from a thunderstorm resulted in violent shaking of a mobile home. No damage was reported. |
| July 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | Towaoc | - | A tornado was observed by several people as it moved over open country. The tornado was located just over a mile west of Highway 160. Some cottonwood trees had limbs broken off. |
| July 2008 | Heavy Rain | Towaoc | - | Heavy rainfall resulted in minor flooding in the Towaoc area. |
| July 1998 | Heavy Rain | Towaoc | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Lightning | Towaoc | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Lightning | Towaoc | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mariano | 7.8 miles | 10 | |
| Badger House Community (historical) | 10.4 miles | 12 | |
| Echo House (historical) | 12.4 miles | 12 | |
| Cortez | 12.5 miles | 11 | |
| Swallows Nest (historical) | 14.2 miles | 25 | |
| Arriola | 17.0 miles | 12 | |
| Lebanon | 18.9 miles | 10 | |
| Lewis | 20.6 miles | 12 |
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 Towaoc | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2573316 | 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 179166. 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.






