Aptos Hills, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Watsonville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95076. It lies near Bush Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Watsonville West quadrangle.
Then and now
1912 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 83 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1912 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 27 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.
- 1912 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1914 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1940 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Watsonville West quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1995 USGS Watsonville West quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
510 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 510 fires within 5 miles of Aptos Hills between 1992 and 2020, burning about 902 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 41 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 | 247 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 112 |
| Debris and open burning | 52 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 41 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 25 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Smoking | 9 |
| Natural | 3 |
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 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | FREEDOM BL PAJARO_VALLEY |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | GREEN |
| 9 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PALMER |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge | CARSON |
| 7 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PARAISO |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | CATHEDRAL |
| 6 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | ZIGLER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Aptos Hills: 3 occurrences, 2 producers, 2 past producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal, Chromium, Titanium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos Placer | Iron, Titanium, Metal | Producer | Ilmenite, Magnetite | |
| Triumph Steel Co | Iron, Chromium, Titanium | Occurrence | ||
| Cabrillo Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Pleasant Valley Excavation | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Pleasant Valley Excavation | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Titus Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Roy Junction | 0.8 miles | 27 | |
| Leonard (historical) | 1.4 miles | 27 | |
| Farley (historical) | 1.7 miles | 24 | |
| La Selva Beach | 1.9 miles | 27 | |
| Rio Del Mar | 2.0 miles | 24 | |
| Aptos | 2.2 miles | 24 | |
| Larkin Valley | 2.8 miles | 27 | |
| Monte Toyon | 2.9 miles | 24 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q17141575 | 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 2413612. 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.











