Desert Beach, California
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 2003. It stands in the Coachella Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92254. The Survey maps it on the Mortmar quadrangle. It lies 213 feet below sea level.
Then and now
1940 to 2003The same ground, surveyed 63 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Desert Beach
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register within a mile 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
North Shore Yacht Clublisted 2015 · 0.8 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 20 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.
- 1940 USGS Cottonwood Spring quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Cottonwood Spring quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Cottonwood Spring quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Mortmar quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Eagle Mountains quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2003 USGS Cottonwood Spring quadrangle1:50000
Fires near this place
196 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 196 fires within 5 miles of Desert Beach between 1992 and 2020, burning about 405 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 28 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 | 117 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 28 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 22 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 2717 |
| 5 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | VANDER VEER RD / SEA VIEW |
| 27 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | California Desert District | DUROS |
| 19 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Riverside Unit | PARKSIDE DR / HY 111 |
| 18 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Riverside Unit | PARKSIDE |
| 18 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | HY 111 / BAY DR |
| 18 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | 111 |
| 12 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | California Desert District | PARKSIDE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Desert Beach: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortmar | 0.8 miles | 20 | |
| Desert Camp | 3.3 miles | 20 | |
| Salton | 3.5 miles | 20 | |
| Caleb (historical) | 4.9 miles | 28 | |
| Ferrum | 5.1 miles | 21 | |
| Rancho Dos Palmas | 5.2 miles | 21 | |
| Durmid | 7.5 miles | 21 | |
| Mecca | 8.9 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 Desert Beach | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14681823 | 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 1660540. 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.










