[6] Westcliffe had its start in 1881 when the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad was extended to that point.

[9] Westcliffe is located west of the geographic center of Custer County in the Wet Mountain Valley, between the Wet Mountains to the east and the Sangre de Cristo Range to the west.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.2 km2), all of it land.

Gentle persuasion has resulted in residents and business in the towns and surrounding ranch land reducing the amount of light pollution.

[13] Locals have set up a free observatory in an old period building with a "roll-off" roof to open up the 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with computer-guided pointing and tracking to the skies overhead.