Big Bend, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Feather Falls census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95965. It stands on Nolton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Berry Creek quadrangle. It stands 2,310 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1888 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 106 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1888 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 28 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.
- 1888 USGS Bidwell Bar quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Bidwell Bar quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Bidwell Bar quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Bidwell Bar quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Bidwell Bar quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1948 USGS Big Bend Mtn quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Las Plumas quadrangle1:24000
- 1950 USGS Las Plumas quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Berry Creek quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Chico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Berry Creek quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
277 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 277 fires within 5 miles of Big Bend between 1992 and 2020, burning about 16,185 acres in total. 30 started naturally. 29 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 | 77 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 69 |
| Debris and open burning | 49 |
| Natural | 30 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 29 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | FUNES |
| 8 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Plumas National Forest | MALCOLM |
| 6 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.8 acres | Butte Unit | MEADOW |
| 6 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,333 acres | Butte Unit | POE |
| 6 September 2001 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 50 acres | Northern California District | BTU POE |
| 6 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | KUKRAL |
| 5 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Butte Unit | DETLOW |
| 30 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | SURCEASE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 80 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 80 workings within 5 miles of Big Bend: 30 occurrences, 30 past producers, 12 unknowns, 5 producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Silver, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bend | Copper, Zinc, Gold, Silver, Lead | Past Producer | Replacement | |
| Big Bend | Gold, Copper, Silver, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Big Bend Marble Quarry | Limestone, Dimension, Marble, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Bloomer Hill | Gold, Copper | Occurrence | Replacement | |
| Pinkston Mine | Gold, Zinc, Barium-Barite, Copper | Past Producer | Barite, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Poe | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Reported Collection | Gemstone | Unknown | ||
| Surcease | Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc | Unknown | ||
| Surcease Bunker Hill and Treasure Hill | Silver, Zinc, Lead, Gold, Copper | Producer | ||
| Surcease Mine | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Antimony, Iron | Past Producer | Antimony, Bornite, Bournonite, Chalcopyrite, Covellite, Galena, Gold, Limonite, Marcasite, Pyrrhotite |
Storms near this place
4 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Bend in 4 storm reports between 2012 and 2023: 3 flood, 1 debris flow. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2017 | Flood | Big Bend | $2,370,000 | HWY 70 was closed from Jarbo Gap in Butte County to Greenville Wye in Plumas County due to flooding. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Big Bend | - | Caltrans District 2 reported State Route 70 is closed from Jarbo Gap to the Greenville WYE due to a slide. |
| September 2019 | Debris Flow | Big Bend | - | Minor debris and rock slides blocked highway 70 from Jarbo Gap to Greenville Way (Junction of state route 70 and state route 89). Road culverts were blocked with debris requiring lane closures. The debris flow is associated with the Camp Fire burn area. |
| December 2012 | Flood | Big Bend | - | A series of consecutive heavy rainfall events caused local flooding due to ground saturation and steep terrain. California Highway Patrol indicated that SR70 was closed from the Jarbo Gap area to Greenville along the Feather River due to extremely heavy rains and run off from the steep terrain. Damage was reported for the roadway and possibly to the bridge. Closure began at Big Bend Road on SR70 in area indicated. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| David (historical) | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Pipers (historical) | 1.6 miles | 28 | |
| Isaiah (historical) | 1.7 miles | 28 | |
| Las Plumas (historical) | 2.2 miles | 28 | |
| New Blinzing (historical) | 2.5 miles | 28 | |
| Parkhill | 2.5 miles | 28 | |
| Blinzing (historical) | 2.7 miles | 28 | |
| Brush (historical) | 2.9 miles | 28 |
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 Big Bend | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4905085 | 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 1658048. 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.












