Bear Valley Springs, California
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Tehachapi census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93561. The Survey maps it on the Bear Mountain quadrangle. 5,592 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,121 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1914 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1914 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresBear Valley Springs grew from 5,172 to 5,592 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 | 5,172 | |
| 2020 | 5,592 | +420 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 33 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.
- 1914 USGS Caliente quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1930 USGS Bear Mountain quadrangle1:24000
- 1930 USGS Bear Mountain quadrangle1:31680
- 1933 USGS Bear Mountain quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Cummings Mountain quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Bear Mountain quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Tehachapi quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Bear Mountain quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
35 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 35 fires within 5 miles of Bear Valley Springs between 1992 and 2020, burning about 191 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 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 | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 24 September 2006 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 2 September 1998 | Natural | 4.0 acres | Tulare Unit | BROOM |
| 18 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 17 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.3 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.1 acres | Central California District | ROWE |
| 5 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 4 August 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Central California District | MELBROOK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Bear Valley Springs: 3 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Lead, Zinc, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zinc. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrett Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Helen-Joyce Prospect | Copper, Lead, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| King Solomon Prospect | Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Powell Mine | Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc | Prospect |
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.
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 Bear Valley Springs | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2083078 | 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 1866997. 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.













