Drake, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Drake?

How much water do wells make near Drake?

How deep are wells around Drake?

Drake wells have a 380-foot median depth. The middle half runs from 199 to 556 feet, so a bid based only on the median can be misleading. A quarter of reported wells are shallower than 199 feet, while another quarter exceed 556 feet. The deepest recorded well is 1,400 feet.

The depth mix shows the spread clearly: 39% are between 300 and 600 feet, 23% are 600 feet or deeper, and 14% are under 100 feet. Most permits identify unnamed fractured bedrock; smaller groups identify Fractured Crystalline and Fractured Granite. In this terrain, fractures control where water is found, so a driller should price the likely depth range rather than promise one exact depth.

What yield can a Drake well provide?

The median reported pump yield near Drake is 5.0 gpm, with the middle half between 4.2 and 7.0 gpm. That is a workable domestic range for many homes, but the well’s storage, pump setup, household demand, and any required water treatment still matter.

Reported results are concentrated in the 5-to-15-gpm range, which accounts for 70% of wells. Another 16% report 1 to 5 gpm, while 11% are under 1 gpm. Only 4% report more than 15 gpm. Ask for the actual well construction report and yield test, not just a neighbor’s verbal estimate. An exempt household-use well is generally limited to 35 gpm under Colorado rules, and the permit controls the allowed use.

What do water levels show in Drake?

Only 59 wells in the records report a static water level, so this part of the dataset is much smaller than the depth record. Among those reports, the median depth to water is 100 feet, with the middle half from 46 to 250 feet below the surface.

The decade comparison does not show a measured decline: the median static water level was 100 feet in both the 2010s and the 2020s. That is a stable result in this limited record, not a guarantee that water levels will be the same on your lot. Mountain wells can respond differently across short distances because fractures are uneven. Have a driller review nearby water levels, pumping information, and seasonal conditions when evaluating a parcel.

Who has drilled near Drake, and when?

Permit activity near Drake extends from the 1950s through 2025. The busiest decades were the 1990s, with 257 permits, and the 1970s, with 202. The records contain 1,144 wells, including 818 recorded as constructed. Permit counts describe the history of drilling, not the current availability or reputation of a contractor.

Ingram Drilling Inc., listed with Stephen E. Ingram, appears on 237 records. Hersh & Son Well Drilling Inc., listed with Harry Hersh, appears on 218, and High Desert Irrigation LLC, listed with Larry Hersh, appears on 149. Use those records to identify local experience, then verify licensing, insurance, scope, and references before hiring. A DWR permit and a completed construction report are separate things to confirm.

What does a new well cost near Drake?

Drake’s fractured granite and gneiss make depth the main cost driver. The local model uses $65-$100 per foot for drilling. At the 380-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at $24,700-$38,000.

A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is estimated at $30,700-$50,000 at that median depth. Treat this as a planning range, not a fixed quote. The middle half of well depths runs from 199 to 556 feet, and some wells are much deeper. Ask what happens if the hole is dry or low-yield, whether casing and grout are included, and which site-access, power, storage, treatment, and trench conditions are excluded.

Risks to check before buying or building

The main physical risk is inconsistent fractured-bedrock production. The records show 11% of reported yields under 1 gpm, and a dry or weak hole can still require substantial drilling expense. Have the driller review neighboring wells, but do not assume one nearby result predicts your lot.

Water quality also deserves testing before closing and again after construction. Within about 10 miles are 9 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 40 historic mine features. There are no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites mapped in that search area. Those mapped sites do not prove contamination at a property, but they support checking source, drainage, and testing history. Septic setbacks, suitable soil, driveway access, electrical trenching, and building-site layout should be reviewed together with the well location.

A practical Drake lot-buying plan

Start with the Colorado DWR permit record for the parcel and neighboring properties. Confirm the permit type, permitted use, construction report, total depth, casing and grout details, pump yield, and any static water-level reading. Because 93% of permits are for domestic or household use, do not assume a domestic permit covers irrigation, commercial use, or additional residences.

Before you build, obtain a written drilling and completion estimate based on the lot’s access and likely depth range. Test existing water for the uses you plan, and have a septic professional verify the system location and soils. If the property is in an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required for some uses. Compare Drake with nearby Glen Haven and Estes Park only as local context; the parcel’s own geology and legal water status control the decision.

Well permits by decade near Drake

What a new well costs in Drake, CO

How this is built: the median permitted depth here times the per-foot range for this ground, plus the normal system costs. A lot at the 75th-percentile depth (556 ft) would run roughly $42,140–$67,600. See the full Colorado well cost guide.

Environmental sites mapped within about 10 miles

Counts come from EPA, USGS and state datasets layered on the Colorado Well Finder map. A count is not a verdict on any one well; it tells you what to test for.

Buying land near Drake? Know what it costs to build before you buy the dirt.

A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Drake can carry the same asking price while one needs an $80,000 driveway and a $45,000 engineered septic the other doesn't. The well numbers on this page are the start of that answer. A Tri-Lakes Site Feasibility Report is the rest of it: a licensed general contractor, excavator and septic installer reads the parcel the way we would if we were about to build on it, and puts the real cost in writing before your money is committed.

Spend a little to know. Or gamble a lot to guess. Realtors sell the view and inspectors look at houses that already exist. We're the people who'd build it, so we catch what quietly turns a "great deal" into a budget disaster: bad access, buried rock, steep grade, soil that won't pass for a normal septic, water that's a fortune to reach. And if the lot is good, you've already got a builder ready to do the work, driveway to drywall.

• Instant Online Report, $99 — type the address and get a buildability read on the spot: parcel, terrain and slope, soil and septic outlook. Cheap enough to run on every lot you're shopping.
• Desktop Report, $500 — a contractor's from-the-desk feasibility read: Regulation 43 and county code, GIS parcel data, terrain, flood and drainage, soil and septic viability, setbacks and buildable envelope, nearby well depths from our 591,000-well database, the likely driveway route, and a preliminary site-development cost breakdown.
• On-Site Report, $2,000 — everything above, then boots and a drone on the actual ground: house pad and septic zone located, access and winter conditions checked, rock and soil observed in person, a 15 to 20 page written opinion you can hand a lender or seller. Credited toward your project if you build with us.

Under contract, comparing parcels, or a realtor with a rural listing whose buyers keep asking "what will it cost to build here?" This is the due-diligence step almost everyone skips, and the one that saves the most.

Common questions about wells in Drake

Keep researching

More in Larimer County

All wells in Larimer County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.

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