Questa, New Mexico
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Questa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87556. It stands on Cabresto Creek. The Survey maps it on the Questa quadrangle. 1,742 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7,461 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresQuesta fell from 1,767 to 1,742 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,767 | |
| 2010 | 1,770 | +3 (+0%) |
| 2020 | 1,742 | -28 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 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.
- 1954 USGS Raton quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Raton quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Questa quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Wheeler Peak quadrangle1:100000
- 1995 USGS Questa quadrangle1:24000
Photographs
5 photographs, 1943Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Collier, John, Jr, 1943. Library of Congress
Collier, John, Jr, 1943. Library of Congress
Collier, John, Jr, 1943. Library of Congress
Collier, John, Jr, 1943. Library of Congress
Collier, John, Jr, 1943. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
71 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of Questa between 1992 and 2020, burning about 332 acres in total. 38 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 38 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 15 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Carson National Forest | GOAT HILL |
| 30 September 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Taos Field Office | GUADALUPE |
| 9 August 2004 | Natural | under an acre | Carson National Forest | RED FIRE |
| 6 August 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Carson National Forest | PIPELINE |
| 6 August 2001 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Carson National Forest | PINABETE |
| 27 August 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Cimarron District | GOAT HILL |
| 21 August 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Carson National Forest | SNAG |
| 19 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.9 acres | Cimarron District | NORTH KIOWA BOSQUE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 24 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Questa: 11 prospects, 7 occurrences, 3 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Molybdenum, Copper, Perlite, Graphite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Canyon Prospect | Molybdenum, Copper, Manganese, Tungsten | Occurrence | Stockwork | |
| Bjb Prospects | Molybdenum, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Garrapata | Mica | Occurrence | ||
| Gray Hawk Prospect | Fluorine-Fluorite | Prospect | ||
| Guadalupe Placer | Gold | Prospect | ||
| Hanosh | Silver, Gold | Prospect | ||
| Nickel Plate | Zinc, Lead | Prospect | ||
| Revelation Manganese Deposit | Silver, Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| Black Point | Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| Esperanza Claim | Graphite | Prospect |
Storms near this place
1 since 2025Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Questa in 1 storm report in 2025: 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | Debris Flow | Questa | - | Multiple mudslides were reported on NM 36 between Questa and Red River and Forest Service Road 134 between Questa and Midnight Meadows. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cerro | 3.6 miles | 9 | |
| Lama | 3.9 miles | 9 | |
| Moly | 5.4 miles | 10 | |
| Buena Vista | 5.5 miles | 9 | |
| El Rito | 6.8 miles | 9 | |
| San Cristobal | 7.8 miles | 9 | |
| Lobo (historical) | 8.1 miles | 10 | |
| Kiowa Village | 8.6 miles | 10 |
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 Questa | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2736026 | 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 909932. 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.




