Colorado elk range map
Where elk live in Colorado, as Colorado Parks and Wildlife maps it, with separate maps for summer and winter. Free, over unit boundaries, land ownership and the topo map, with no account.
Open the elk range map All the map does
The elk range maps
10 maps are published for this animal. Switch on one or several. "Show it" opens the hunting map with that range drawn.
| Range | What it is | CPW's name for it | Mapped | Last changed | On the map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year-round range | All the country elk are known to use, at any time of year. CPW's definition: The area which encompasses all known seasonal activity areas within the observed range of an elk population. | Elk Overall Range | 9 areas | August 2025 | Show it |
| Summer range | Where most elk spend the summer. CPW's definition: That part of the range where 90% of the individuals are located between spring green-up and the first heavy snowfall, or during a site specific period of summer as defined for each Data Analysis Unit. Summer range and winter range may overlap. | Elk Summer Range | 29 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Summer concentration | Summer ground that holds more elk than the country around it. CPW's definition: Those areas where elk concentrate from mid-June through mid-August. High quality forage, security and lack of disturbance are characteristics of these areas. | Elk Summer Concentration Area | 345 areas | August 2025 | Show it |
| Winter range | Where most elk spend an ordinary winter. CPW's definition: That part of the overall range where 90 percent of the individuals are located during the average five winters out of ten from the first heavy snowfall to spring green-up, or during a site specific period of winter as defined for each Data Analysis Unit. Not delineated for elk on the Eastern Plains. | Elk Winter Range | 50 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Winter concentration | The parts of the winter range that hold far more elk than the rest of it. CPW's definition: That part of the winter range where densities are at least 200% greater than the surrounding winter range density, in the average five winters out of ten. | Elk Winter Concentration Area | 415 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Severe winter range | Where most elk end up in the hardest winters, about two in every ten. CPW's definition: That part of the range where 90% of the individuals are located when the annual snowpack is at its maximum and/or temperatures are at a minimum in the two worst winters out of ten. | Elk Severe Winter Range | 293 areas | August 2025 | Show it |
| Production area | Where female elk are known to have their young in spring. CPW's definition: That part of the overall range of elk occupied by the females from May 15 to June 15 for calving. Only known areas are mapped. | Elk Production Area | 574 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Highway crossings | Stretches of road that elk commonly cross. CPW's definition: Those areas where elk movements traditionally cross roads, presenting potential conflicts between elk and motorists. | Elk Highway Crossings | 369 areas | November 2025 | Show it |
| Resident ground | Ground where elk live all year and do not move with the seasons. CPW's definition: An area used year-round by a population of elk. Individuals could be found in any part of the area at any time of the year; the area cannot be subdivided into seasonal ranges. | Elk Resident Population Area | 116 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Limited use | Ground elk use only now and then, or where only a few live. CPW's definition: An area within the overall range which is occasionally inhabited by elk and/or contains a small scattered population of elk. | Elk Limited Use Area | 13 areas | August 2024 | Show it |
Counts and dates are from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's map service, read October 13, 2026. CPW revises these maps a region at a time, each region about every four years.
How to read a range map
- It is a broad area, not a sighting. Biologists and district wildlife managers draw these areas from what they know of each herd or population. It does not show where an animal is today.
- Weather, hunting pressure and the year all move animals. Winter range is where most are in an ordinary winter. In a mild fall they can be well above it on opening day, and after a hard storm well into it.
- Being inside a mapped range gives no right to hunt the ground. Much winter range is private. Switch on land ownership and tap the spot for the owner on record.
- Your license names the units it is good in. Switch on unit boundaries to see the range and the unit line together.
Nothing on this map promises an animal. It is the published record of where the animal generally lives, and the hunting is still yours to do.
Units, seasons and licenses
Every elk unit has its own page with seasons, licenses and harvest figures: Colorado elk units. Look up any license by its code under Colorado hunt codes, and put units side by side with the unit comparison.
What is left off, on purpose
Colorado Parks and Wildlife also maps single spots an animal comes back to, such as mineral licks, water sources and roost sites, and it maps migration. Those are left off this map. That is part of our fair chase promise: published public maps of broad areas only, and never a hunter's own sightings.
Other big game range maps
Mule deer, White-tailed deer, Moose, Pronghorn, Bighorn sheep, Mountain goat, Black bear, Mountain lion. Small game and birds: wild turkey, dusky grouse, pheasant.
The map shows the ground. A plan tells you where to go.
The map is free. A FilledTag hunt plan is the paid part: for your tag and where you drive from, one exact plan with a legal place to park, a camp, morning and evening spots and the walk between them, checked against land records.