China Lake Acres, California
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93555. The Survey maps it on the Inyokern quadrangle. 1,757 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,431 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1993The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresChina Lake Acres fell from 1,876 to 1,757 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 | 1,876 | |
| 2020 | 1,757 | -119 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 23 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 Inyokern 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
- 1972 USGS Inyokern quadrangle1:24000
- 1993 USGS Ridgecrest quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
46 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of China Lake Acres between 2005 and 2019, burning about 11 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 8 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 | 26 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.6 acres | California Desert District | NONAME |
| 3 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 1.6 acres | California Desert District | OWENS |
| 29 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 1119 |
| 26 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0200 |
| 21 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 1118 |
| 19 September 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 August 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of China Lake Acres: 2 unknowns, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Treasure Mine | Gold, Copper | Producer | ||
| Bertrand Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bowman Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Caltrans #262 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Caltrans #264 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyokern | 2.6 miles | 23 | |
| Ridgecrest Heights | 4.4 miles | 23 | |
| Ridgecrest | 5.1 miles | 23 | |
| Terese (historical) | 5.1 miles | 23 | |
| China Lake | 5.5 miles | 23 | |
| Leliter (historical) | 6.0 miles | 23 | |
| Indian Wells | 6.0 miles | 23 | |
| Bradys | 7.0 miles | 23 |
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 China Lake Acres | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2720635 | 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 1853382. 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.








