Cantil, California
26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1976. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93519. The Survey maps it on the Cantil quadrangle. It stands 2,018 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1976The same ground, surveyed 61 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 26 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.
- 1915 USGS Searles Lake quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1943 USGS Saltdale quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1947 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1967 USGS Cantil quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1976 USGS Cuddeback Lake quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
11 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Cantil between 1992 and 2018, burning about 3 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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 | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | JAWBONE |
| 2 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Desert District | ABBOTT FIRE |
| 16 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | ONION |
| 17 July 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0163 |
| 15 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | JAWBONE FIRE |
| 23 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 1013 |
| 23 May 1992 | Fireworks | 1.0 acres | California Desert District | JAWBONE |
| 27 November 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | BIRD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 28 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of Cantil: 9 past producers, 6 occurrences, 6 unknowns, 5 prospects. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Mercury, Clay, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbonate Prospect | Lead, Copper | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Copper, Galena | |
| Cinco | Quartz, Feldspar | Occurrence | ||
| Cotton Ball Borax | Boron-Borates | Past Producer | ||
| Koehn Lake | Boron-Borates, Halite, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Past Producer | 1873, 1929 | |
| Long Beach Salt Co | Bromine | Producer | ||
| Orange Blossom | Copper, Gold | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Quartzite | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Rattle Snake Group | Lead, Copper, Silver, Gold | Prospect | ||
| Red Rock Canyon | Semiprecious Gemstone | Prospect | ||
| Sego-Lily | Tungsten | Unknown |
Storms near this place
34 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cantil in 34 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 15 flash flood, 13 flood, 5 heavy rain, 1 debris flow. The reports record 4 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1997 | Flash Flood | Cantil | 4 hurt, $5,000,000 | A thunderstorm measured at 69 dBz moved from southwest to northeast up the El Paso Mountains in East Kern County on the evening of Wednesday, Sept 3rd. Reports indicated that 4.50" of rain fell from this storm in a little over an hour's time. The resulting flash flood through Red Rock Canyon State Park brought 28,000 CFS down through the park, across State Highway 14 and the Redrock-Randsburg Road, and on into Koehn Dry Lake. Nearly 100 motorists were stranded by the flooding with 4 cars swept into the water. Reports indicated that a 12-foot wall of water swept over Highway 14 at 7:10 PM PDT and subsequently over Redrock-Randsburg Road at 7:17 PM PDT. The number of injuries was estimated based on initial reports...no fatalities. |
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Cantil | $10,000 | no account filed |
| December 2025 | Flood | Cantil | - | CHP reports Jawbone Canyon Rd closed due to flooding. |
| September 2025 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | Redrock Randsburg Road Highway 14 to Highway 395 impassable and closed. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported the Rodrock-Randsburg Road was closed between SR 14 and US 395 because the road had separated due to a washout. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported that Redrock-Randsburg Rd. was closed between SR 14 and Garlock due to flooding. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along SR 14 near Redrock-Randsburg Rd. |
| August 2023 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported several stuck vehicles on Neuralia Rd. near Cantil Rd. with a road closure in place. |
| August 2022 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported that the intersection of SR 14 and Jawbone Canyon Rd. was completely flooded over as a result of heavy rainfall. |
| August 2022 | Heavy Rain | Cantil | - | An APRS CWOP station 2W Cantil measured 0.81 inches of rainfall from a thunderstorm in two hours. |
| March 2020 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported water, debris and tree branches covering Redrock Randsburg Road. |
| March 2020 | Flood | Cantil | - | Kern County Emergency Manager reported Redrock Randsburg Road was closed from SR 14 to US 395 due to flooding. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding due to heavy rain along Red Rock-Randsburg Rd. between State Route 14 and US 395. The road was closed due to flooding. |
| January 2018 | Debris Flow | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding and debris across Redrock-Randsburg Rd. near Cantil and the road was closed to traffic. |
| March 2018 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported Redrock-Randsburg Rd. at State Route 14 closed due to water over the road. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at Highway 14 and Redrock Randsburg Road near Cantil. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported Highway 14 was closed near Redrock Randsburg Road due to flooding near Cantil. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding near Neurailia Road and Rogers Road just southwest of Cantil. |
| February 2017 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | Kern County Roads reported mud and flash flooding along Redrock Randsburg Road and Garlock Road between State Route 14 and US Highway 395. Roadway was closed at 1920 PST. |
| October 2015 | Heavy Rain | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported water ponding on Highway 14. This resulted in the closure of both Randsburg and Garlock roads. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | Flooding was reported near state road 14 near Jawbone Canyon road. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | California Highway Patrol reported water threatening highway 14 near Red Rock Canyon. |
| August 2005 | Heavy Rain | Cantil | - | Locally heavy rain occurred due to late afternoon thunderstorm activity in the Kern Deserts. Localized flooding was reported just east of Highway 14 on Redrock-Randsburg Road in the Cantil area. |
| February 2001 | Flood | Cantil | - | Early convection early on the 28th continued minor flood problems along the Redrock-Randsburg Road in the Kern County deserts. Total rainfall at California City from late on the 25th through the morning of the 28th was 1". Another 1/4" fell in a thunderstorm from 1400 to 1415 PST on the 28th. |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | After the fact by 7 hours but water cut a 20-foot section of the Redrock-Randsburg Road in the Kern Desert due to locally heavy rains. No injuries or vehicles involved. |
| February 2005 | Heavy Rain | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Heavy Rain | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| October 2005 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| October 2005 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| February 2001 | Flood | Cantil | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Flash Flood | Cantil | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Seco | 2.1 miles | 26 | |
| Gypsite | 2.5 miles | 26 | |
| Redrock (historical) | 2.5 miles | 26 | |
| Ricardo | 4.6 miles | 26 | |
| Cinco | 4.8 miles | 27 | |
| Ceneda | 4.9 miles | 26 | |
| Saltdale (historical) | 5.5 miles | 26 | |
| Neuralia (historical) | 8.6 miles | 28 |
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 Cantil | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3474540 | 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 240206. 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.








