Carmel Highlands, California
31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1913 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Carmel-by-the-Sea census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93923. It stands on Gibson Creek. The Survey maps it on the Monterey quadrangle. It stands 318 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1913 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 84 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1913 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 31 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 Monterey quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1941 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1947 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
179 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 179 fires within 5 miles of Carmel Highlands between 1992 and 2020, burning about 133,839 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 9 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 | 97 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 41 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Smoking | 3 |
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 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | OTTER |
| 8 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | BIXBY |
| 8 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | EQUESTRIAN |
| 7 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 1835 |
| 7 September 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | SAN CARLOS |
| 6 September 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | MEADOWS |
| 30 September 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5.4 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | COAST RIDGE RD CARMEL_HI |
| 29 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | PGE #26 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 19 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Carmel Highlands: 12 past producers, 5 producers, 2 prospects. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machado | Slate, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Santa Lucia Quarries, Ltd. | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| De Amaral-Carmel Highlands Deposit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Riley | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Carmel Stone Quarry-Anthony | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Carmel Stone Quarry-Passadori | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Whaler's Cove | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| De Amaral-Carmel Highlands Deposit | Stone | Producer | ||
| Machado | Stone | Producer | ||
| Santa Lucia Quarrie Ltd | Stone | Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Carmel Highlands in 3 storm reports between 2014 and 2022: 1 debris flow, 1 hail, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2014 | Debris Flow | Carmel Highlands | $1,000 | Small mudslide reported on Highway 1 Northbound near Garrapatta State Park. |
| January 2017 | Hail | Carmel Highlands | $10 | Pea sized hail reported in Carmel. |
| September 2022 | Flood | Carmel Highlands | - | Highway 1 closed between Point Lobos and Ragged Point due to highway flooding and weather conditions. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel-by-the-Sea | 3.6 miles | 31 | |
| Hacienda Carmel | 3.6 miles | 31 | |
| Quail Meadows | 3.8 miles | 30 | |
| Pebble Beach | 4.4 miles | 31 | |
| Carmel Woods | 4.7 miles | 31 | |
| Del Monte Forest | 5.7 miles | 31 | |
| Carmel Valley Manor | 5.9 miles | 30 | |
| Monterey | 6.9 miles | 31 |
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 Carmel Highlands | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3474966 | 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 1759219. 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.












