Big Bend, California
25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Central Shasta census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96011. It stands on Nelson Creek. The Survey maps it on the Big Bend quadrangle. 79 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,686 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1886 to 1998The same ground, surveyed 112 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 figuresBig Bend fell from 102 to 79 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 | 102 | |
| 2020 | 79 | -23 (-23%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 25 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 Modoc Lava Bed quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Modoc Lava Bed quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1892 USGS Modoc Lava-Bed quadrangle1:250000
- 1932 USGS Bartle quadrangle1:96000
- 1939 USGS Bartle quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Big Bend quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Alturas quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS McArthur quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Big Bend quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Big Bend quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
74 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 74 fires within 5 miles of Big Bend between 1992 and 2020, burning about 607 acres in total. 19 started naturally. 1 was 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 | 20 |
| Natural | 19 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | IRON |
| 6 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | 1-2 |
| 6 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | BEND |
| 6 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity Unit | HOT |
| 5 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | IRON |
| 4 September 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | DEADLUN |
| 4 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | MUD |
| 3 September 2003 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | 1-1 |
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 Big Bend: 3 occurrences, 2 prospects, 1 unknown, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Geothermal. 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 Hot Springs | Geothermal | Past Producer | ||
| Canyon Creek | Copper | Occurrence | Surface/Underground | |
| Canyon Creek | Copper | Prospect | ||
| Kosk Creek | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Kosk Creek | Copper | Prospect | ||
| Schmidt | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Property | Copper | Unknown |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wengler | 7.4 miles | 29 | |
| Hillcrest | 10.8 miles | 31 | |
| Rinckel (historical) | 11.7 miles | 31 | |
| Montgomery Creek | 12.4 miles | 31 | |
| Kelly (historical) | 12.5 miles | 26 | |
| Obie | 14.6 miles | 25 | |
| Cayton | 15.0 miles | 26 | |
| Harlow Place | 15.1 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 Big Bend | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2594862 | 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 256886. 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.












