{"id":882,"date":"2023-01-28T23:26:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T23:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=882"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:49","slug":"montezuma-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/montezuma-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma County, Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Montezuma County is a county in Colorado, United States, in the state&rsquo;s southwest corner<br \/>\nat the Four Corners, about 45 miles west of Durango. It had a population of 25,849 at the 2020<br \/>\ncensus, an estimated 26,678 by 2025, and covers 2,040 square miles (5,284 km2) centred near<br \/>\n37&deg;20&prime;N 108&deg;36&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Cortez is the county seat and the county&rsquo;s only city; its postal code is 81321. The<br \/>\ncounty holds 1 city, 2 incorporated towns, 2 census-designated places and 11 smaller<br \/>\nunincorporated communities, and it runs on Mountain Time. Its FIPS code is 08083.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Montezuma County<\/h2>\n<p>Montezuma County has 16 named places on record: 5 incorporated cities, towns and<br \/>\ncensus-designated places, and 11 unincorporated communities with no local government of their<br \/>\nown. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers post offices, crossroads and rural<br \/>\ncommunities with no formal boundary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Cortez<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>8,766<\/td>\n<td>81321<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mancos<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,196<\/td>\n<td>81328<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Towaoc<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,120<\/td>\n<td>81334<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dolores<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>885<\/td>\n<td>81323<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lewis<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>257<\/td>\n<td>81327<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pleasant View<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>81331<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Yellow Jacket<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>81335<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Arriola<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stoner<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Golconda<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lebanon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mariano<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Millwood<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Roundup Junction<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Stapleton<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Weber<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>81321 &mdash; Cortez<\/li>\n<li>81328 &mdash; Mancos<\/li>\n<li>81334 &mdash; Towaoc<\/li>\n<li>81323 &mdash; Dolores<\/li>\n<li>81327 &mdash; Lewis<\/li>\n<li>81331 &mdash; Pleasant View<\/li>\n<li>81335 &mdash; Yellow Jacket<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Arriola, Stoner, Golconda, Lebanon, Mariano, Millwood, Roundup Junction, Stapleton and Weber<br \/>\nhave no ZIP code of their own; mail to those communities is delivered under the nearest post<br \/>\noffice town&rsquo;s code. Several &mdash; Golconda, Lebanon, Mariano, Millwood, Roundup<br \/>\nJunction, Stapleton and Weber &mdash; are small rural place names on record with no current<br \/>\npopulation figure and no active post office.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Montezuma County sits on the Colorado Plateau in the state&rsquo;s far southwest corner, a<br \/>\nlandscape of high desert mesas, canyons and forested mountains. Of its 2,040 square miles, about<br \/>\n2,030 are land and 11 are water, roughly 0.5 percent &mdash; most of that surface water is<br \/>\nMcPhee Reservoir, Colorado&rsquo;s second-largest by capacity, formed by a dam on the Dolores<br \/>\nRiver. Sleeping Ute Mountain, a landmark ridge sacred to the Ute people, rises southwest of<br \/>\nCortez, and the county&rsquo;s southeastern edge climbs into the foothills of the La Plata<br \/>\nMountains near Mancos. Much of the county&rsquo;s southern half lies within the Ute Mountain<br \/>\nUte Reservation.<\/p>\n<p>Dolores County borders Montezuma to the north, San Juan County to the northeast, La Plata<br \/>\nCounty to the east, San Juan County, New Mexico to the south, Apache County, Arizona touches<br \/>\nits southwest corner at the Four Corners, and San Juan County, Utah lies to the west. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/dolores-county\/\">Dolores County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-juan-county\/\">San Juan County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/la-plata-county\/\">La Plata County<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-juan-county-new-mexico\/\">San Juan County, New Mexico<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-juan-county-utah\/\">San Juan County, Utah<\/a> all border Montezuma directly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Montezuma County had a population of 25,849 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 26,678 residents. Cortez and Mancos are the two largest communities, together<br \/>\nholding roughly two-fifths of the county&rsquo;s population. Median household income runs<br \/>\n$65,244, well below Colorado&rsquo;s statewide figure of $92,911 (2023 ACS). Population density<br \/>\nworks out to about 12.7 people per square mile of land, low even by rural Colorado standards.<br \/>\nNative Americans make up about 12.9 percent of the county&rsquo;s population, reflecting the Ute<br \/>\nMountain Ute Reservation in the county&rsquo;s south, and Hispanic or Latino residents make up<br \/>\nabout 12 percent.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 1,788 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by retail trade at 1,480 and public administration at 1,043 &mdash; the last of those<br \/>\nunusually large for the county&rsquo;s size because county government, the Ute Mountain Ute<br \/>\ntribal administration and federal land agencies (the National Park Service and Bureau of Land<br \/>\nManagement) all maintain a substantial local workforce here. Tourism built around Mesa Verde<br \/>\nNational Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Hovenweep National Monument drives<br \/>\nmuch of the retail and hospitality trade in and around Cortez. Osprey Packs, an outdoor gear<br \/>\nmaker, is headquartered in Cortez and employs more than 100 people. The Montezuma-Cortez School<br \/>\nDistrict RE-1 runs eleven schools, including three charter schools, for about 2,929 students<br \/>\ncountywide.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Colorado Legislature created Montezuma County out of the western portion of La Plata<br \/>\nCounty in April 1889, naming it for Moctezuma II, the Aztec emperor who ruled during the Spanish<br \/>\nconquest of Mexico &mdash; though no direct historical link between the Aztec Empire and this<br \/>\npart of Colorado has ever been established. The area had been home to Ancestral Puebloan<br \/>\ncommunities from roughly AD 600 until they abandoned the region around 1300, leaving behind the<br \/>\ncliff dwellings now protected inside Mesa Verde National Park. Anglo resettlement began in the<br \/>\n1870s.<\/p>\n<p>McPhee, once a company lumber town on the Dolores River, produced more than half of<br \/>\nColorado&rsquo;s milled lumber at its 1927 peak and housed up to 1,500 workers before its<br \/>\nsawmill closed in 1946. The site now lies beneath McPhee Reservoir, created when the dam serving<br \/>\nthe federal Dolores Project was completed in 1985 to supply irrigation and municipal water to<br \/>\nMontezuma and Dolores counties and to the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate crosses Montezuma County. U.S. Route 160 runs east&ndash;west through Cortez and<br \/>\nMancos, U.S. Route 491 runs north&ndash;south through Cortez, and Colorado Highways 145 and 184<br \/>\nserve Dolores and the county&rsquo;s northern reaches.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Durango &mdash; about 45 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Farmington, New Mexico &mdash; about 40 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Telluride &mdash; about 65 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Moab, Utah &mdash; about 110 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cortez Municipal Airport, on the city&rsquo;s west side, is the county&rsquo;s own commercial<br \/>\nairport. Durango&ndash;La Plata County Airport, about 55 miles east, offers more frequent<br \/>\nservice to major hubs. No Amtrak line reaches Montezuma County; the nearest station is in<br \/>\nGrand Junction, over 130 miles north.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Montezuma County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in Colorado&rsquo;s southwest corner at the Four Corners, about 45 miles west of<br \/>\nDurango, bordered by Dolores, San Juan, La Plata, San Juan (New Mexico) and San Juan (Utah)<br \/>\ncounties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Montezuma County?<\/strong><br \/>\n25,849 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 26,678 by 2025.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Montezuma County?<\/strong><br \/>\n2,040 square miles (5,284 km2), of which about 2,030 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Montezuma County?<\/strong><br \/>\nCortez, the county&rsquo;s only incorporated city, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Montezuma County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThree incorporated places &mdash; Cortez, Mancos and Dolores &mdash; plus the census-designated<br \/>\nplaces Towaoc and Lewis, and 11 smaller unincorporated communities including Pleasant View,<br \/>\nYellow Jacket, Arriola and Stoner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Montezuma County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n81321 for Cortez, 81328 for Mancos, 81334 for Towaoc, 81323 for Dolores, 81327 for Lewis, 81331<br \/>\nfor Pleasant View and 81335 for Yellow Jacket.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Montezuma County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nMesa Verde National Park&rsquo;s cliff dwellings, Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep national<br \/>\nmonuments, and the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation headquartered in Towaoc.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/colorado\/\">Towns and villages in Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Montezuma County is a county in Colorado, United States, in the state&rsquo;s southwest corner at the Four Corners, about 45 miles west of Durango. It had a population of 25,849 at the 2020 census, an estimated 26,678 by 2025, and covers 2,040 square miles (5,284 km2) centred near 37&deg;20&prime;N 108&deg;36&prime;W. Cortez is the county seat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Montezuma County, Colorado","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 16 places in Montezuma County, Colorado - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Mesa Verde and Ute Mountain Ute history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-colorado","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9665,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions\/9665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}