Big Pine, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1913 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Independence census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93513. It stands on Baker Creek. The Survey maps it on the Big Pine quadrangle. 1,875 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,989 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1913 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 81 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 Pine grew from 1,756 to 1,875 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 | 1,756 | |
| 2020 | 1,875 | +119 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 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.
- 1913 USGS Bishop quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1947 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000
- 1950 USGS Big Pine quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Big Pine quadrangle1:62500
- 1963 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Bishop quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Big Pine quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Big Pine quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
127 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 127 fires within 5 miles of Big Pine between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,948 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 27 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 | 54 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 27 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 22 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | CANAL |
| 24 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Central California District | GLACIER LODGE |
| 20 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Central California District | HWY 395 2 |
| 16 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | HWY 395 / COUNTY HWY |
| 15 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Central California District | 192 RICHARD |
| 13 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,353 acres | Central California District | JOHN |
| 7 August 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 acres | San Bernardino Unit | SUGARLOAF |
| 5 August 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Inyo National Forest | SUGARLOAF |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Big Pine: 4 producers, 3 past producers, 1 occurrence. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tungsten, Lead, Copper, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County Bank | Lead, Copper, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Paul Pit and Mill | Limestone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Tinemaha Pit | Perlite | Past Producer | ||
| Bakoch | Tungsten | Past Producer | Scheelite | |
| Bakoch Tungsten Prospect | Tungsten | Past Producer | ||
| Big Pine Community Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Big Pine Materials Pit A | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Materials Site #283 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Pine in 8 storm reports between 2003 and 2022: 8 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $5,000 | Highway 168 was closed at Westgard Pass due to flooding and lots of debris in the road. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $5,000 | Highway 168 was closed from Highway 395 across the White Mountains due to flash flooding depositing boulders on the road. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $2,000 | Flooding washed large rocks onto Hwy 168. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $2,000 | Rocks and mud washed over Death Valley Road in several locations near the intersection of Highway 168. |
| October 2015 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $2,000 | Rocks and mud covered Highway 168 just east of Death Valley Road. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $2,000 | Water, mud, and rocks covered Highway 168 in The Narrows section. |
| September 2022 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | $1,000 | Hwy 168 was flooded at The Narrows. |
| August 2003 | Flash Flood | Big Pine | - | Flash flooding from a stationary thunderstorm caused Highway 168 near Westgard Pass to become impassable. Four vehicles were stuck in mud and debris for a short period of time. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich | 2.0 miles | 27 | |
| Monola | 2.8 miles | 27 | |
| Elna (historical) | 6.0 miles | 27 | |
| Fish Springs | 6.5 miles | 28 | |
| Keough Hot Springs | 7.7 miles | 26 | |
| Peterson Mill | 11.8 miles | 26 | |
| Aberdeen | 13.0 miles | 35 | |
| Sunland (historical) | 13.1 miles | 26 |
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 Pine | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2532244 | 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 277473. 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.









