Day Valley, California
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Santa Cruz census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95003. It lies near Bean Hill. The Survey maps it on the Loma Prieta quadrangle. 3,410 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,316 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1916 to 1996The same ground, surveyed 80 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1916 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresDay Valley grew from 3,409 to 3,410 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 | 3,409 | |
| 2020 | 3,410 | +1 (+0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 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.
- 1916 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:48000
- 1919 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Loma Prieta quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
- 1996 USGS Loma Prieta quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
285 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 285 fires within 5 miles of Day Valley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,110 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 15 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 | 115 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 72 |
| Debris and open burning | 40 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | LAGOON |
| 9 September 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | EUREKA CANYON RD CORR 23 |
| 9 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PALMER |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | CATHEDRAL |
| 6 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | ZIGLER |
| 5 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PORTER |
| 5 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | BROWNS VALLEY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Day Valley: 4 occurrences, 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal, Granite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos Placer | Iron, Titanium, Metal | Producer | Ilmenite, Magnetite | |
| Decomposed Granite Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Olive Springs Quarry | Granite | Producer | ||
| Cabrillo Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Pleasant Valley Excavation | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Pleasant Valley Excavation | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rubis Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Titus Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monte Toyon | 3.3 miles | 24 | |
| Olive Springs (historical) | 3.4 miles | 24 | |
| Corralitos | 4.4 miles | 27 | |
| Aptos | 4.5 miles | 24 | |
| Rob Roy Junction | 4.5 miles | 27 | |
| Farley (historical) | 4.9 miles | 24 | |
| Aptos Hills | 5.0 miles | 27 | |
| Rio Del Mar | 5.1 miles | 24 |
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 Day Valley | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2933330 | 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 1867010. 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.











