What Hidden Lake Wells Cost, Produce, and Require

How deep are wells around Hidden Lake?

How much water do wells make near Hidden Lake?

Hidden Lake well depths reflect fractured mountain rock

The 700 wells with reported total depth have a median of 245 feet. The middle half is 110 to 400 feet, which gives a driller a reasonable local range but not a guaranteed target. About 21% are under 100 feet, 34% are 100 to 300 feet, 35% are 300 to 600 feet, and 10% exceed 600 feet. The deepest recorded well is 1,428 feet.

That spread is typical of a mountain bedrock setting. Most permits name an unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifer, with smaller numbers identifying fractured crystalline or fractured granite zones. A bid based only on the median can miss a difficult hole, so ask how the contractor handles extra footage, casing, grouting, and an unsuccessful water-bearing zone.

Most Hidden Lake wells report useful household flow

Only 351 wells report a pump yield, so the yield data is not a complete measure of every permitted well. Among those records, the median is 7.0 gallons per minute and the middle half is 5.0 to 7.0 gallons per minute. The distribution is 3% under 1 gallon per minute, 21% from 1 to 5, 68% from 5 to 15, and 7% above 15.

For a typical household, that pattern is encouraging, but flow rate is not the same as storage or dependable daily supply. A low-yield well may still work with a storage tank and careful demand management. Confirm the well permit's allowed use, test the actual well, and have the pump and pressure system sized for the lot and proposed home.

Water levels are deeper in the newer Hidden Lake records

Only 39 wells report a static water level, so treat the water-level sample as limited. The median depth to water is 55 feet, with the middle half from 25 to 100 feet below the surface. Measurements from the 2010s show a median of 32 feet, while measurements from the 2020s show 100 feet.

That decade comparison suggests deeper measured water levels in the newer records, but it does not by itself prove a basin-wide declining water table. Different locations, seasons, well depths, and measurement methods can affect the result. Before buying, request the neighboring well records and ask for a current static-level measurement and a production test on the property well.

Permit history shows long use and active local drillers

The records include 1,111 permitted wells, with 732 marked as constructed and 700 reporting total depth. Permits were issued across the decades, including 197 in the 1970s, 154 in the 1980s, 220 in the 1990s, 136 in the 2000s, 90 in the 2010s, and 48 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

Most permits are for domestic or household use, at 89%; stock use is 2%, irrigation is 1%, and monitoring is 4%. The most active drillers in these records are Ground Water Systems Inc. (Wilson, Richard R.), Ingram Drilling Inc. (Ingram, Stephen E.), and Norris & Sons (Norris, T A). Confirm current licensing, availability, and references rather than assuming historical activity means a current recommendation.

A median-depth Hidden Lake well can cost $21,900-$36,500

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss, at $65 to $100 per foot. At the 245-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at $15,900 to $24,500. A finished well, including pump, tank, trenching, and electrical, is estimated at $21,900 to $36,500.

Those figures are planning numbers, not a fixed proposal. A well reaching 600 feet or more can move well beyond the median budget, and difficult access can add work that is not captured by footage alone. Get the drilling rate, casing and grout assumptions, mobilization, water testing, pump installation, trenching, electrical scope, and dry-hole terms in writing before you compare bids.

Check contamination, dry-hole risk, and septic layout before closing

Mapped environmental information within about 10 miles includes 6 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 717 historic mine features, and 58 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped features do not establish contamination at a particular parcel, but they are a reason to review site history, mine maps, groundwater direction, and available testing before relying on a well.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured granite or gneiss, even where nearby wells produce well. A septic system also needs suitable soil, reserve area, driveway access, and separation from the well. Have the well location, septic field, building envelope, access drive, and utility trench reviewed together. Check the DWR permit and any augmentation or use restrictions before construction, especially if the planned use is more than ordinary household use.

Use nearby well records before buying a Hidden Lake lot

Start with the property well permit, construction report, pump information, water-quality results, and recent production history. Then compare nearby records in Bark Ranch, Ward, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Sunshine, and Crisman. The local depth and yield ranges are useful for a first budget, but they cannot replace a site-specific test because fractured bedrock conditions can change over short distances.

For a vacant lot, make the contract contingent on confirming a legal water supply, a workable well location, and an approved septic concept. For an existing home, inspect the pressure tank, pump controls, storage, electrical service, and wellhead. If the proposed use changes, ask Colorado DWR whether the permit allows it; an exempt household-use well is not automatically a source for every future use.

Well permits by decade near Hidden Lake

What a new well costs in Hidden Lake, 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 (400 ft) would run roughly $32,000–$52,000. 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 Hidden Lake? 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 Hidden Lake 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 Hidden Lake

Keep researching

More in Boulder County

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

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