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Vallecito, Colorado

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1908 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Bayfield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81122. It stands on Jack Creek. The Survey maps it on the Vallecito Reservoir quadrangle. It stands 7,582 feet above sea level.

Vallecito within La Plata County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 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

155 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 155 fires within 5 miles of Vallecito between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,463 acres in total. 98 started naturally. 2 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
Natural98
Missing data/not specified/undetermined28
Recreation and ceremony13
Debris and open burning8
Equipment and vehicle use3
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
8 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreUpper Pine River Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
6 September 2007Naturalunder an acreSan Juan National ForestPATTON
4 September 2017Naturalunder an acreUpper Pine River Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
4 September 2017Naturalunder an acreSan Juan National Forest976
28 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUpper Pine River Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN
2 September 2018Naturalunder an acreSan Juan National Forest1252
2 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado State Forest Service-State HeadquartersBAYFIELD
14 September 2017Naturalunder an acreUpper Pine River Fire Protection DistrictUNKNOWN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in La Plata County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Vallecito: 1 occurrence. None of them 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel

Every working recorded in La Plata County

Storms near this place

16 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vallecito in 16 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 5 hail, 3 heavy rain, 2 flash flood, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2013Thunderstorm WindVallecito$40,000Thunderstorm winds estimated near 60 mph caused damage to boat docks on the southern end of Vallecito Reservoir. A number of boats were also damaged by the 5 to 6 foot waves which crashed into the docks.
September 2013Flash FloodVallecito$30,000Flash flooding led to mud flows and water over six inches deep across sections of County Road 240 near Lemon Dam. Significant road damage occurred to a 200 yard section of the paved road.
October 2011LightningVallecito$30,000Lightning struck a communications tower near the 8000 foot level on Grassy Mountain between Vallecito and the Forest Lakes subdivision. The communications tower and nearby facilities were heavily damaged.
September 2013HailVallecito$20,000Large hail accumulated to between 3 and 12 inches deep between Durango and Vallecito. The large hail damaged a number of vehicles.
August 2022Debris FlowVallecito$1,000Heavy rain from thunderstorms triggered a mudslide north of the Vallecito Marina and Yacht Club across CR 501.
August 2022Debris FlowVallecito$1,000A debris flow occurred on County Road 501 as a result of heavy rain from thunderstorms.
October 2025FloodVallecito-Heavy rain due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Priscilla falling between the evening of October 9th and October 11th, resulted in flooding along Vallecito Creek, which began rising around midnight on October 11th. Vallecito Creek crested at 1245 MST on October 11 to 5.99 feet and 7100 cfs, which is a new record historical peak, beating the previous record of 5.98 feet set on September 6 of 1970. The flood wave routed through the system through the evening of October 11th with streamflows dropping about 2 feet from the peak around 2200 on October 11th. There were 7 road closures, 600 to 700 residences were evacuated in Vallecito and there were 11 high water rescues in addition to threatened bridges. Debris was seen moving down the river including trees and objects from people's homes including a hot tub. Vallecito Creek remained elevated with a second crest of 4.38 feet around 800 MST on October 14 in response to another period of locally heavy rain and increased rates on October 13. The second flood wave routed through the system by 300 MST on October 16, before subsiding below bankfull levels. This second wave carved out a completely new channel moving at 3000 cfs.
September 2022HailVallecito-Penny sized hail fell 4 miles south of Vallecito in La Plata County.
July 2018Heavy RainVallecito-A total of 0.47 inches of rain fell in 16 minutes.
July 2018Heavy RainVallecito-Thunderstorms produced 0.91 of an inch of rain within a few hours.
July 2017Heavy RainVallecito-Within 30 minutes, an inch of rain was measured near Vallecito.
September 2015HailVallecito-A strong thunderstorm traveled southward across the Vallecito community and produced hailstones up to 1.25 diameter. A mallard duck was killed by the hail. The storm also produced heavy rainfall in the Vallecito area with a CoCoRaHS observer's report of 0.74 of an inch. A wind gust of 45 mph was measured at the La Plata County Airport as the storm collapsed.
September 2013Flash FloodVallecito-Roads were closed around Vallecito Reservoir due to several mud flows which came off the Missionary Ridge burn scar.
September 2013HailVallecito-no account filed
September 2013HailVallecito-no account filed
July 2003WildfireVallecito-no account filed

Every storm recorded in La Plata 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
Columbus4.1 miles21
Tuckerville (historical)9.6 miles21
Bayfield10.4 miles20
Gem Village11.1 miles20
Logtown (historical)12.2 miles24
Hermosa13.6 miles29
Trimble14.0 miles29
Rockwood14.0 miles29

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 VallecitoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q27988088The 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 196405. 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.