Crowley County is a small southeastern Colorado county where four communities line up along the Highway 96 corridor just north of the Arkansas River. Ordway is the clearest central reference, with Crowley and Olney Springs to the west and Sugar City to the east. The supplied reference, city-connections, water, and elevation maps show how this settlement corridor relates to reservoirs, creeks, irrigation features, and gently changing plains. High-resolution JPG originals of the maps are available below in one downloadable ZIP archive.
The road map is easiest to understand by starting at Ordway. Highway 96 runs east-west through the main settlement belt, while Route 71 provides a strong north-south reference near Ordway. Additional numbered roads, including 18, 167, and 207, help locate the northern, southwestern, and southern parts of the county. Outside the town corridor, streams and long rural roads become more prominent than built-up areas.
Water is an important part of the county map despite the open plains setting. The Arkansas River follows the southern edge, while Lake Meredith Reservoir, Lake Henry, Ordway Town Reservoir, and Olney Springs Reservoir are labeled across the southern half. Farther north, Lone Tree Creek, Dead Horse Creek, Pond Creek, Horse Creek, and Brackenridge Creek descend toward the lower part of the county. The elevation map gives an actual range of about 1,268 to 1,593 meters with a mean near 1,390 meters.
Table of Contents
A Highway 96 corridor linking Ordway, Crowley, Olney Springs, and Sugar City
The county’s main communities are arranged along a relatively narrow east-west belt. Ordway sits near the center, Crowley is to the west, Olney Springs lies farther west, and Sugar City is east of Ordway. Most of the northern half has far fewer settlement labels, so the map’s attention shifts from towns to drainage lines, rural roads, and open terrain.
Crowley County’s official Olney Springs page places that town on Highway 96, and the official Sugar City page describes another of the county’s small eastern-plains communities. Other trusted regional material also identifies Ordway, Sugar City, Crowley, and Olney Springs as the county’s principal towns. The supplied maps reflect that same pattern by concentrating their labeled communities close to the southern transportation corridor.
Route 71 is the main north-south line near Ordway, while Highway 96 carries the town sequence from Olney Springs through Crowley and Ordway toward Sugar City. Route 18 is marked north of Ordway, Route 207 appears south of Crowley, and Route 167 is labeled near the southwest side. Finding these numbered routes first makes the smaller road network easier to place.
Roads, communities, and the southern boundary on the county reference map
The county reference map is the best view for seeing Ordway, Crowley, Olney Springs, Sugar City, Highway 96, Route 71, and nearby rural roads together. The settled southern corridor contains a denser grid of local roads, while the northern half is visually dominated by creek lines and more widely spaced routes.
The county’s irregular southern edge lies close to the Arkansas River, and nearby places such as Fowler, Manzanola, and Cheraw appear outside the boundary. A Crowley County Sheriff’s Office label is also shown east of the main town cluster. These references help place the county within the broader Arkansas Valley rather than viewing the boundary in isolation.
This is a county-orientation map, not a live navigation or parcel map. It does not contain every farm road, current closure, road-surface condition, private access route, or ownership line. Drivers should use current transportation information for travel, while parcel and legal-boundary questions require authoritative county or state records.
Ordway as the hub for three nearby towns
The city-connections map uses Ordway as the hub and strips away much of the local road detail. That makes the relative positions of Olney Springs, Sugar City, and Crowley much easier to compare. The four town markers form an east-west chain close to the same corridor shown on the reference map.
The CITY CONNECTIONS box gives direct distances from Ordway: roughly 11 miles to Olney Springs, 5 miles to Sugar City, and 6 miles to Crowley. These are straight-line distances, not driving mileage. Actual travel follows Highway 96 and local roads, so the road distance and travel time will differ.
Lincoln, Kiowa, Bent, Otero, Pueblo, and El Paso counties are labeled around the outside of the map. This regional context is useful when locating Crowley County within southeastern Colorado. Readers who need reservoir names, creek labels, or the smaller numbered routes should switch back to the reference or terrain-and-water map.
Lake Meredith, Lake Henry, and creeks draining the northern plains
The terrain-and-water map brings the county’s reservoirs and drainage lines into focus. Lake Meredith Reservoir is the largest labeled water body in the southern half, with Lake Henry and Ordway Town Reservoir farther north. Olney Springs Reservoir appears in the southwest, while the Arkansas River forms the major natural water reference along the southern edge.
Named streams in the northern and central part of the county include Lone Tree Creek, Dead Horse Creek, Pond Creek, Horse Creek, and Brackenridge Creek. Bob Creek is marked farther southwest. The map also labels irrigation features such as Colorado Canal and Basket Farm Lateral, showing that the county’s visible water network includes both natural drainage and managed water infrastructure.
Crowley County’s official Camping & Lakes page identifies Lake Henry and Lake Meredith as local recreation lakes and notes that water levels can change. For that reason, the map is best used for location and terrain reference. Current lake levels, boating access, fishing rules, flood conditions, and water quality should be checked with the appropriate current source.
Gentle elevation changes from 1,593 meters to the lower Arkansas Valley
The elevation map shows a broad plains landscape rather than a mountain county. Its printed summary gives an actual range of about 1,268 to 1,593 meters and a mean near 1,390 meters. Higher brown and tan terrain is concentrated in the northwest, while greener lower areas spread across the central, southern, and southeastern portions.
The lowest green areas are most noticeable near the southern Arkansas River side and across the southeast. The northwest rises gradually rather than forming a sharp mountain front, and some lower drainage corridors cut through the broader surface. Comparing this image with the water map helps explain why many of the named creeks trend toward the lower southern part of the county.
This elevation surface is useful for county-wide comparison but is not survey-grade. It should not be used to assign an exact elevation to a farm, building, road project, reservoir structure, or parcel. Detailed engineering or site work should use source elevation data from the USGS 3D Elevation Program or professional surveying.
Choose the right Crowley County map and download the JPG originals
Use the county reference map when you need Ordway, Crowley, Olney Springs, Sugar City, Highway 96, Route 71, and nearby roads in one view. The city-connections map is cleaner when the goal is to compare the four communities and their direct distances from Ordway.
The terrain-and-water map is the best choice for Lake Meredith Reservoir, Lake Henry, Arkansas River, and the named northern creeks. The elevation map is more useful when the subject is the higher northwest, the lower southeast, or the gentle drop toward the Arkansas Valley. Matching the map to the task keeps the county easier to understand.
The WebP images in the article are reduced previews for faster page loading. The download archive contains the corresponding original JPG files at 3638 × 2572 pixels each, making them better suited to printing, classroom use, reports, presentations, and personal annotation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which map is best for comparing Ordway, Olney Springs, Sugar City, and Crowley?
The city-connections map is the simplest choice because it uses Ordway as the hub and shows the other three communities with direct distances. Use the county reference map when Highway 96, Route 71, smaller roads, and streams also matter.
Where can I see Lake Meredith, Lake Henry, and the Arkansas River most clearly?
The terrain-and-water map is the best choice. It labels Lake Meredith Reservoir, Lake Henry, Ordway Town Reservoir, Olney Springs Reservoir, the Arkansas River, and several northern creeks. Current lake levels and recreation access should be checked separately because they can change.
Can the 1,268–1,593 meter elevation range be used for survey work?
No. The range is useful for comparing broad terrain across Crowley County, but the map is not survey-grade. Exact elevation work for construction, roads, farms, parcels, or engineering should use source USGS elevation data or professional surveying.
Map File Information
The ZIP archive contains high-resolution JPG originals of the Crowley County reference, city-connections, terrain-and-water, and elevation maps.
- Printable Size: 3638 × 2572 pixels each
- File Type: ZIP archive containing 4 JPG files
Related Maps
Sources and references
Local community information is available from the official Crowley County Olney Springs page and the official Sugar City page. The county’s Camping & Lakes page also provides local information about Lake Henry and Lake Meredith.
Additional 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.
