Big River, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Needles census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92242. It stands on Arch Creek. The Survey maps it on the Parker quadrangle. 1,084 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 436 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1911 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 74 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1911 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresBig River fell from 1,327 to 1,084 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 | 1,327 | |
| 2020 | 1,084 | -243 (-18%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 22 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.
- 1911 USGS Parker quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Parker quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Parker quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Parker quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000, 7 printings
- 1970 USGS Parker quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1981 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Parker quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
243 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 243 fires within 5 miles of Big River between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,908 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 5 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 | 141 |
| Debris and open burning | 53 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 20 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
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 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | LUIGI |
| 8 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | BROWN |
| 7 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | MARIO |
| 6 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Colorado River Agency | BOOTH |
| 5 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | MOHAVE RD |
| 4 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | INDIAN SCHOOL |
| 30 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | 4TH& BURNS |
| 28 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado River Agency | BURNS |
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 Big River: 1 occurrence, 1 prospect, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucky Day Mine | Copper, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Parker Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Morgan Claim | Gold, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Gold, Silver | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calzona | 2.7 miles | 21 | |
| Earp | 3.6 miles | 22 | |
| Bluewater | 5.3 miles | 22 | |
| Vidal | 8.0 miles | 18 | |
| Cross Roads | 9.3 miles | 25 | |
| Vidal Junction | 11.8 miles | 18 | |
| Parker Dam | 15.4 miles | 23 | |
| Tin Shack (historical) | 16.6 miles | 21 |
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 River | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1837406 | 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 1866999. 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.








