Calico, California
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Barstow census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92398. It lies near Wall Street Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Yermo quadrangle. It stands 2,283 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1953 to 1977The same ground, surveyed 24 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1953 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Yermo quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Daggett quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Newberry Springs quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
15 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Calico between 1993 and 2020, burning about 933 acres in total. None 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 | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | CALICO 1 |
| 24 July 1994 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | San Bernardino Unit | TAMY |
| 30 June 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | CALICO |
| 26 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Bernardino Unit | I 15 S/ GHOST TOWN RD |
| 23 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | CALICO BL YERMO |
| 14 June 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | California Desert District | YERMO |
| 13 June 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 860 acres | California Desert District | PARADISE |
| 26 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 acres | San Bernardino Unit | W WILLIAMS ST YERMO |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 73 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 73 workings within 5 miles of Calico: 36 past producers, 24 prospects, 8 occurrences, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Silver, Boron-Borates, Barium-Barite, Bentonite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burcham | Lead, Silver, Gold, Zinc, Copper | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Burcham Mine | Lead, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Calico | Boron-Borates, Strontium | Past Producer | 1882, 1888, 1924 | |
| Calico-Odessa | Silver, Lead, Gold, Copper | Past Producer | Cerargyrite, Embolite | |
| Daggett/Yermo Site | Limestone, General | Occurrence | ||
| Garfield | Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Gunn Mine | Bentonite, Zeolites | Past Producer | Bentonite, Sepiolite | |
| Lead Mountain | Barium-Barite, Lead, Silver, Gold, Zinc | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Lead Mountain | Barium-Barite, Lead, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Pacific Mine | Boron-Borates, Strontium, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Past Producer | 1882, 1884 |
Storms near this place
11 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Calico in 11 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 8 flash flood, 2 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2010 | Flash Flood | Calico | $500,000 | Many roads on Fort Irwin were flooded and/or washed out. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Calico | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down four power poles, knocking out power to all of Fort Irwin. |
| December 2010 | Flash Flood | Calico | $20,000 | Flash flooding at the intersection of Irwin Road and Copper City Road trapped two men in their vehicle. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Calico | $20,000 | Flash flooding at the Calico Ghost Town washed out most of the campground, closing it for a week. Roads were covered in mud and debris from 1924 PST to 0330 PST, and the park lost power. |
| November 2025 | Flash Flood | Calico | $15,000 | Water, mud, and rocks were over Fort Irwin Road in multiple areas, with at least one car stuck. Yermo Road also washed out near Fort Irwin Road and was flooded at the I-15 northbound offramp and at Daggett-Yermo Road, with a big rig stuck in the mud. |
| July 2008 | Lightning | Calico | $15,000 | Lightning downed several power lines in the Yermo area, causing some road closures. |
| October 2015 | Flash Flood | Calico | $10,000 | Fort Irwin Road was covered with nearly a foot of mud and debris. |
| April 2016 | Flash Flood | Calico | $5,000 | Flooding washed out Fort Irwin Road near mile marker 4. |
| September 2011 | Lightning | Calico | $5,000 | Lightning struck and set afire a power pole. |
| April 2016 | Flash Flood | Calico | $2,000 | Water, rocks, and debris partially blocked Fort Irwin Road. |
| September 2022 | Flash Flood | Calico | $1,000 | Fort Irwin Rd was flooded. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck (historical) | 1.2 miles | 15 | |
| Yermo | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Daggett | 6.0 miles | 14 | |
| Gale | 6.5 miles | 14 | |
| Toomey | 6.6 miles | 13 | |
| Nebo | 6.8 miles | 16 | |
| Eniwetok Housing Area | 7.4 miles | 14 | |
| Desert View Housing Area | 7.7 miles | 14 |
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 Calico | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q526354 | 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 1660414. 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.








