Alpine, California
38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Alpine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 91901. The Survey maps it on the Alpine quadrangle. 14,696 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,834 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1893 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 104 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1893 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresAlpine grew from 14,236 to 14,696 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 14,236 | |
| 2020 | 14,696 | +460 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
17 surveys from 38 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1893 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Elcajon quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Elcajon quadrangle1:62500
- 1903 USGS Cuyamaca quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1903 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1903 USGS Elcajon quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1939 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:62500
- 1950 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Alpine quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1979 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Alpine quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
538 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 538 fires within 5 miles of Alpine between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,565 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 52 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 194 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 159 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 52 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 32 |
| Debris and open burning | 30 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 26 |
| Natural | 14 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Other causes | 6 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | Cleveland National Forest | VIEJAS |
| 9 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | TAVERN RD |
| 8 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | SUMMIT 2 |
| 8 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Cleveland National Forest | MAC |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | TREE |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | San Diego Unit | LIGHTENING |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | San Diego Unit | QUAIL |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | EVERGREEN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 16 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Alpine: 5 occurrences, 4 prospects, 3 producers, 3 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Molybdenum, Feldspar, Kyanite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fletcher Deposit | Uranium, Thorium | Prospect | ||
| Hoover Lakeside,Tunner | Gemstone | Producer | ||
| Iron Master | Iron | Prospect | ||
| Old Noble Mine | Gold, Silver | Unknown | ||
| Palo Verde Lake Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Claim | Tin | Occurrence | ||
| Dehesa Dumortierite Deposit | Kyanite | Prospect | ||
| Hoover | Feldspar | Past Producer | ||
| Hoover Lakeside,Tunner Deposit | Feldspar | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Sillimanite Occurrence | Kyanite | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
18 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alpine in 18 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 6 wildfire, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain, 2 flood. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2001 | Wildfire | Alpine | 2 hurt, $10,000,000 | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Heavy Rain | Alpine | $20,000 | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpine | $15,000 | Severe downburst winds knocked down branches that blocked roadways in Alpine and Harbison Canyon. A spotter estimated winds at 65 mph plus. |
| December 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpine | $15,000 | no account filed |
| January 2023 | Flood | Alpine | - | Flooding was reported early in the morning on January 16 due to heavy rain, with the area having received 1.5 to 2 inches in the prior 12 hours, and 2.5 to 4 inches in the preceding 24 hours. Alpine Blvd was closed due to flooding, with flooding also reported south of Alpine due to the local creek. |
| September 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpine | - | The Department of Highways reported a large tree down on the roadway and a large tree struck a vehicle at Oak View Place and Scenic View Road. A chainsaw was required for cleanup. |
| August 2017 | Heavy Rain | Alpine | - | A thunderstorm produced heavy rain with subsequent runoff that raised El Capitan Reservoir, a reservoir with a capacity of 112,800 acre feet, by 3 inches overnight. |
| January 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpine | - | A 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust reported at the Anderson Valley mesonet. |
| August 2012 | Flood | Alpine | - | Spotter SDG437 reported mud and debris on the road at Japatul Valley and Lyons Roads as a result of a stationary and heavy thunderstorm over the area. |
| July 1999 | Wildfire | Alpine | - | Lightning ignited a 350 acre brush fire. Several aircraft and over 100 firefighters responded and kept the fire from reaching the Viejas Casino. |
| August 2003 | Flash Flood | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Lightning | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| November 2002 | Hail | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| February 2002 | Wildfire | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| February 2002 | Wildfire | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Wildfire | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpine | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Wildfire | Alpine | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Heights | 1.4 miles | 38 | |
| Glen Oaks | 2.0 miles | 38 | |
| The Willows | 2.3 miles | 33 | |
| Harbison Canyon | 3.5 miles | 38 | |
| Flinn Springs | 4.8 miles | 38 | |
| Blossom Valley | 5.4 miles | 38 | |
| La Cresta | 5.4 miles | 38 | |
| Suncrest | 5.6 miles | 38 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Alpine | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2114785 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1660247. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
















