Belden, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Feather River Canyon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95915. It lies in Belden Ravine. The Survey maps it on the Caribou quadrangle. 15 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,221 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1886 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 108 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresBelden fell from 22 to 15 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 | 22 | |
| 2020 | 15 | -7 (-32%) |
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.
- 1886 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000
- 1894 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000, 8 printings
- 1955 USGS Almanor quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Susanville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Susanville quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Caribou quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1989 USGS Lake Almanor quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Caribou quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
69 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of Belden between 1992 and 2019, burning about 95,032 acres in total. 30 started naturally. 6 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 30 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | CHERRY |
| 5 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5.0 acres | Plumas National Forest | ROCK |
| 28 September 2007 | Natural | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | LOMOND |
| 27 September 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | ROGERS |
| 26 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | BELDON |
| 15 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | SERPENTINE |
| 14 September 1998 | Smoking | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | DAM |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 46 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 46 workings within 5 miles of Belden: 18 past producers, 12 occurrences, 8 unknowns, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Chromium, Nickel. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belden Mine | Gold, Lead, Silver, Copper | Prospect | ||
| Dew Drop | Silver, Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Galena Mine | Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Mordine and Moraine | Gold, Copper, Silver | Producer | ||
| Rich Bar Deposit | Gold, Silver, Platinum | Producer | 1850 | |
| Upper Feather | Gold, PGE | Unknown | ||
| Upper Feather | Gold, Platinum, Mercury | Producer | STREAM PLACER | |
| Williams | Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Middle Campground | Nickel | Occurrence | 1957 | |
| Middle Campground | Nickel | Unknown |
Storms near this place
4 since 2022Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Belden in 4 storm reports between 2022 and 2026: 2 debris flow, 2 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 2026 | Flood | Belden | - | California Highway Patrol reported multiple baseball or bigger sized rocks and mud in the road on Westbound Highway 70 in Belden. |
| December 2024 | Flood | Belden | - | Caltrans reported a rockslide 3.5 miles east of Belden along State Route 70. The road was closed for about 4 hours. |
| June 2023 | Debris Flow | Belden | - | Heavy rain from thunderstorms produced a debris flow/ rock slide along Highway 70 at Serpentine Curves near Belden. This was reported by the California Highway Patrol. |
| June 2022 | Debris Flow | Belden | - | The Plumas County Sheriff reported that there were two rock/mud slides and/or debris flows on Hwy 70 one mile west of Belden and near Rogers Flat in the Dixie Fire Burn Scar, with vehicles trapped between the slides. The occupants were rescued, however their vehicles remained temporarily stranded in the area with the road closed for several days. Rain gauge reports from 0.50 to 1.00 inches over a 2 hour period from 12 pm to 2 pm. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haven | 1.0 miles | 27 | |
| Rodgers Flat | 3.6 miles | 25 | |
| Tobin | 5.7 miles | 25 | |
| Rock Crest | 6.5 miles | 25 | |
| Rock Creek Camp | 6.5 miles | 25 | |
| Caribou | 7.1 miles | 27 | |
| Storrie | 7.3 miles | 25 | |
| Virgilia | 7.7 miles | 25 |
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 Belden | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2049949 | 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 266440. 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.











