Leadville North, Colorado Well Guide

How deep are wells around Leadville North?

How much water do wells make near Leadville North?

Leadville North well depth and mountain geology

The median recorded well depth near Leadville North is 120 feet. The middle half runs from 73 to 162 feet, meaning many drilling bids should be based on a relatively shallow well, while still allowing for variation. The 90th-percentile depth is 225 feet, and the deepest recorded well reaches 860 feet.

Depth records show that 37% of wells are under 100 feet and 59% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Only 3% are between 300 and 600 feet, and no recorded wells are in the 600-plus-foot category. Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer: 1,304 wells do so, compared with 38 alluvial wells. Fractured granite and gneiss can produce water unevenly, so nearby depth data is useful for planning but cannot promise the same result.

How much water Leadville North wells produce

The median reported pump yield is 10.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 7.0 and 12.0 gallons per minute. That is a solid local starting point for a household-water discussion, but it is not the same as guaranteed continuous production. The permit records include yield reports for 371 wells, so the yield sample is smaller than the full well population.

Seventy-five percent of reported wells produce between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 15% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Ten percent fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and 0% are recorded under 1 gallon per minute. Storage tanks can help a lower-yield well meet household demand. An exempt household-use well also has a 35 gpm pumping limit, and the permit’s allowed use still controls what you can do.

Leadville North water levels and recent measurements

Among the 88 wells reporting static water level, the median depth to water is 70 feet below the ground surface. The middle half is 54 to 110 feet. This gives a useful expectation for pump planning and trench layout, but static water level is not the same as pumping level. A driller still needs to account for drawdown, seasonal conditions, and the completed well’s performance.

The decade series shows a small shift from a 70-foot median in the 2010s to 75 feet in the 2020s. That suggests water was measured slightly deeper in the newer group, but the available measurements are limited and do not establish a broad declining trend by themselves. Ask for the original well construction and pumping information rather than relying only on the map’s general water-level pattern.

Who has drilled near Leadville North, and when

Permit activity extends across several decades. Records show 26 permits from the 1960s, 154 from the 1970s, 133 from the 1980s, 277 from the 1990s, 284 from the 2000s, 122 from the 2010s, and 93 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. The mix includes 78% domestic or household wells, 12% monitoring wells, 2% stock wells, and 1% irrigation wells.

The most common driller names in the records are Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation, associated with Shelton, Joe Wayne, with 344 wells; Twin Lakes Drilling Co., associated with Schaffer, James O, with 102; and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc., associated with Shelton, Steve, with 80. These records identify past permit activity, not a guarantee of current availability or a recommendation. Confirm licensing, insurance, scheduling, and the written scope directly before hiring.

What a new well costs in Leadville North

Fractured mountain bedrock raises the importance of access, setup, casing, grout, and the final well design. The local drilling model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 120-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $7,800 to $12,000.

A finished system with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $13,800 to $24,000 at that median depth. That is a planning range, not a fixed bid. A deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, difficult trenching, power work, storage, treatment, or a dry-hole outcome can change the total. Ask each driller what is included, how depth is charged, and what happens if the first water-bearing fracture does not produce enough.

Risks to check before buying or building

The records show 16 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 3,848 historic mine features, and 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites within about 10 miles. Those mapped features do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are reasons to review location-specific history and test the water. Historic mining can also complicate access, excavation, and site planning.

Low yield and dry holes remain practical risks in fractured bedrock, even when nearby wells look good. Check well construction, casing, grout, pump tests, water-quality results, and maintenance records. For a new build, confirm the well location and septic area can meet required separation and siting rules. A permit, septic approval, and legal water use are separate questions. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be needed, so verify the water-rights requirements with Colorado DWR before construction.

Buying or building a lot near Leadville North

Start with the closest comparable wells, giving priority to wells in the same bedrock setting and at similar elevations. Compare depth, reported yield, static water level, construction, and well use. Leadville is about 1 mile away; Alma is 13 miles away, Copper Mountain 16 miles, Fairplay 17 miles, Red Cliff 18 miles, and Norrie 19 miles. Those places provide context, but the closest comparable well is usually more useful than a distant average.

Before closing, obtain the permit and construction records, confirm the intended household use, and have the existing well tested if the property has one. For vacant land, get a driller’s access and depth estimate, locate power and septic areas, and budget for the full finished system rather than only the hole. If the home will need more water than ordinary household use, check the permit and water-rights requirements first.

Well permits by decade near Leadville North

What a new well costs in Leadville North, 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 (162 ft) would run roughly $16,530–$28,200. 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 Leadville North? 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 Leadville North 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 Leadville North

Keep researching

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

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