Broomfield County is unusual even before a reader looks at roads or water. The same place functions as the City and County of Broomfield, and the county boundary bends through a series of narrow extensions, notches, and irregular edges instead of forming a simple rectangle. The main map places Broomfield at the center of that shape, the city map emphasizes Broomfield as the single major city, and the water and elevation views explain the ditches, reservoirs, creeks, and gentle Front Range relief inside the boundary. High-resolution JPG originals of the supplied maps are available for download in one ZIP archive.
The county’s shape makes more sense with a little administrative history. According to the official City and County of Broomfield history, the original city once extended into four counties: Boulder, Jefferson, Adams, and Weld. Residents approved a constitutional amendment in 1998, and after a transition period Broomfield officially became Colorado’s 64th county on November 15, 2001. The regional labels on the city map reflect that setting and help explain why the present boundary looks so different from many neighboring counties.
Broomfield is part of the Front Range urban corridor rather than the high Rockies, but the terrain still changes across its relatively small area. The elevation map shows the highest ground concentrated toward the southwest and lower terrain extending to the northeast. The water map adds another layer: Community Ditch, Signal Ditch, Equity Ditch, small reservoirs, and Walnut Creek are prominent, showing how natural drainage and managed water features share the same urban landscape.
Table of Contents
A city and county joined inside one irregular boundary
The first thing to notice is the outline. Broomfield County widens through the middle, narrows into several corridors, and stretches toward the northeast in a long upper section. Square and rectangular notches interrupt parts of the boundary, giving the county a patchwork appearance when compared with the straighter edges of many Colorado counties.
The official Broomfield history provides the key context. Before the city-county government was created, Broomfield crossed four county jurisdictions. The change approved by voters in 1998 created a three-year transition that ended with the new City and County of Broomfield taking effect in 2001. The modern boundary therefore represents an urban area assembled from a much more complicated county setting than the map alone might suggest.
Nearby names also help place the county in the Front Range. Louisville and Lafayette appear to the west, Westminster lies to the south, Thornton is east of the county, and Erie is north of it. On the city-distribution view, Boulder, Jefferson, Weld, and Adams counties surround Broomfield, giving a clear regional frame for a county whose own name and main city are the same.
Reading Broomfield’s roads, landmarks, and neighboring communities
The main reference map labels Broomfield near the middle of the county and keeps several recognizable local features in view. Mountain View Estates and Country Estates appear near the developed center, Crofton Park is labeled toward the southeast, and the Broomfield County Courthouse sits in the lower central area. Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology appears near the southwestern road corridor, while Children’s Hospital Colorado is labeled farther northeast.
The road pattern is dense compared with large rural Colorado counties. Several major corridors cross the central and southwestern parts of the county, then continue toward Louisville, Lafayette, Westminster, Thornton, and Erie outside the boundary. Even without using the page as a navigation map, those connections make it easy to see that Broomfield is embedded in a continuous metropolitan area rather than separated from neighboring communities by large stretches of open country.
This map is intended for county-scale orientation rather than live driving. It does not show current closures, traffic, private access, or parcel ownership. Exact legal boundaries and property information should come from current City and County of Broomfield records or authoritative boundary data such as U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line products.
Why the city map highlights only Broomfield
The city-distribution map is intentionally simple. It highlights Broomfield as the single major city and removes most of the landmark detail found on the reference map. That makes it especially useful for showing the city-county relationship without the visual clutter of neighborhood names and road labels.
The surrounding county labels are more than background decoration. They match the four counties named in Broomfield’s official history as the jurisdictions that once contained portions of the city. Seeing Boulder County to the west, Jefferson County to the southwest, Weld County to the north, and Adams County to the east makes the administrative history easier to understand.
The CITY INDEX includes a numeric value next to Broomfield, but the map does not present it as a current-year Census table. Readers who need an up-to-date population should use a recent Census or City and County of Broomfield source. The important information here is the location and singular role of Broomfield within the county.
Ditches, small reservoirs, and Walnut Creek across an urban county
The terrain-and-water map is dominated by managed water features as much as by natural streams. Community Ditch runs through the north-central part of the county, Signal Ditch is labeled to the east, and Equity Ditch crosses the central-southern area. Nissen Reservoir Number 2, Gay Reservoir, and Brunner Reservoir appear close together, giving the map a much different character from a mountain county centered on a single major river.
Walnut Creek enters the southwestern end of the county, while Boulder Creek is labeled outside the boundary to the northwest. The official Broomfield Open Space and Trails maps also show a dense network of ditches, reservoirs, ponds, and open-space water features. The city’s 2024 Open Space, Parks, Recreation and Trails planning map includes names such as Community Ditch, Signal Ditch, Nissen Reservoir, and Brunner Reservoir, confirming that these features are part of the local landscape rather than incidental map labels.
This is a location and terrain reference, not a flood map, drinking-water operations map, or real-time water-quality source. Reservoir levels, stormwater conditions, ditch maintenance, and access rules can change, so decisions involving water should rely on current City and County of Broomfield or other responsible-agency information.
Higher ground in the southwest, lower terrain toward the northeast
The supplied elevation map shows an actual range of about 1,554 to 1,783 meters, with a mean near 1,626 meters. The darkest brown high ground is concentrated at the southwestern end of the county. Moving northeast, the colors shift through tan, yellow, and light green before reaching lower green terrain in the long northern and northeastern extensions.
The relief is modest compared with the mountains west of Boulder, but it is still visible within the county. The southwest contains sharper slopes and more textured terrain, the central area becomes gentler, and the far northeast looks lower and smoother. The pattern also helps explain why some ditches and small drainage lines cross the county toward lower areas rather than remaining confined to one broad river valley.
The elevation colors are useful for county-wide comparison, not for survey measurements at a house, roadway, park facility, or construction site. Exact elevation work should use source data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program or a professional survey.
Choosing the right Broomfield County map and downloading the originals
Use the main reference map when you need the county outline, Broomfield, nearby road corridors, landmarks, and surrounding communities together. The city map is the cleaner choice when the goal is simply to show Broomfield’s position between Boulder, Jefferson, Weld, and Adams counties. For Community Ditch, Equity Ditch, small reservoirs, and Walnut Creek, the terrain-and-water map provides the strongest labels.
The elevation view is best for explaining why the southwest sits higher than the north and northeast. Because Broomfield County is compact and highly developed, choosing one map for one question usually works better than trying to combine every layer into a single image.
The WebP images in the article are reduced for faster page loading. The download archive contains the corresponding original JPG files at 3638 × 2572 pixels each, making them better suited to printing, presentations, reports, classroom use, and personal annotation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Broomfield County have such an irregular boundary?
Broomfield historically extended into Boulder, Jefferson, Adams, and Weld counties. Voters later approved creation of a combined City and County of Broomfield, which officially took effect in 2001. The reference and city maps make the resulting notches and extensions easy to see.
Which map is best for Community Ditch and the small reservoirs?
Use the terrain-and-water map. It labels Community Ditch, Equity Ditch, Signal Ditch, Nissen Reservoir Number 2, Gay Reservoir, Brunner Reservoir, and Walnut Creek. It is intended for general location reference rather than flood or real-time water management.
Can the 1,554–1,783 meter elevation range be used for engineering measurements?
No. The map compares broad elevation differences across Broomfield County. Exact elevations for construction, road design, or parcel work should come from source USGS elevation data or professional surveying.
Map File Information
The ZIP archive contains high-resolution JPG originals of the Broomfield County reference, city, terrain-and-water, and elevation maps.
- Printable Size: 3638 × 2572 pixels each
- File Type: ZIP archive containing the original JPG files
Related Maps
Sources and references
Broomfield’s transition from a city spanning four counties to a combined city-county government is described on the official City and County of Broomfield history page. Local parks, trails, reservoirs, and open-space water features can be explored through the Broomfield Open Space and Trails Maps and the Broomfield Open Space and Trails page.
Additional map-data references include U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapefiles for administrative boundaries, USGS National Hydrography for water features, and the USGS 3D Elevation Program for elevation data.
Green Map creates custom-edited map images using open geographic data sources such as geoBoundaries, Natural Earth, OpenStreetMap, and government open data.
These maps are edited visual materials, not raw data files, and are provided for education, documents, presentations, and graphic reference.
