Blue Canyon, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Colfax-Monumental Ridge census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95715. The Survey maps it on the Blue Canyon quadrangle. It stands 4,695 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 2000The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1891 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 34 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.
- 1891 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1902 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1938 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Blue Canyon quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1955 USGS Emigrant Gap quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Truckee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2000 USGS Blue Canyon quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
120 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 120 fires within 5 miles of Blue Canyon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 12,392 acres in total. 25 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 26 |
| Natural | 25 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | HILL |
| 8 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | EMIGRANT |
| 8 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | ZIEBRIGHT |
| 8 September 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | CROSSING |
| 7 September 2011 | Smoking | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | ONION |
| 7 September 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | LOWELL |
| 7 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | NORTH FORK |
| 6 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Tahoe National Forest | TEXAS |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 109 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 109 workings within 5 miles of Blue Canyon: 37 occurrences, 33 past producers, 31 unknowns, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Silver, Barium-Barite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear River Chrome Mine | Chromium, Iron | Past Producer | 1916, 1917 | |
| Black Squirrel Deposit | Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| Blue Canyon | Gold, Platinum | Producer | Stream Placer | |
| Blue Canyon | Gold, PGE | Unknown | ||
| Dan Sullivan & Assoc | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Lowell Hill District | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1850 | |
| Rawhide Cons | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Shady Run | Gold, Arsenic | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Zeibright | Gold, Copper | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Manzanita | Mercury | Occurrence | Cinnabar |
Storms near this place
2 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blue Canyon in 2 storm reports between 2000 and 2015: 2 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2015 | Heavy Rain | Blue Canyon | - | There were 1.75 inches of rain that fell overnight at Drum Forebay. |
| January 2000 | Heavy Rain | Blue Canyon | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forebay | 2.0 miles | 33 | |
| Drum (historical) | 2.3 miles | 37 | |
| Emigrant Gap | 3.4 miles | 34 | |
| Midas | 3.7 miles | 37 | |
| Rawhide | 4.3 miles | 33 | |
| Baxter | 4.8 miles | 37 | |
| Casa Loma | 5.2 miles | 37 | |
| Towle | 5.9 miles | 37 |
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 Blue Canyon | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4928940 | 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 257228. 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.












