Desert Lodge, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1931 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Borrego Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92004. The Survey maps it on the Borrego Sink quadrangle.
Then and now
1931 to 1982The same ground, surveyed 51 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
14 surveys from 22 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.
- 1931 USGS Vallecito quadrangle1:125000
- 1939 USGS Borrego quadrangle1:62500
- 1942 USGS Borego quadrangle1:62500
- 1942 USGS Borrego quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Vallecito quadrangle1:125000
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Borrego quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Borrego Sink quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Borrego Valley quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
24 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Desert Lodge between 1994 and 2020, burning about 179 acres in total. 6 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 | 12 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Southern California Agency | SCHL HSE 5 |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | San Diego Unit | TUBB |
| 17 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | San Diego Unit | LOOKOUT |
| 12 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | BORREGO MEDICAL CENTER BO |
| 23 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | ROADRUNNER DR S BORREGO_S |
| 15 August 1998 | Natural | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | PINYON |
| 11 August 1994 | Natural | 150 acres | San Diego Unit | YAQUI |
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 Lodge: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Granite, Geothermal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrego Springs | Geothermal | Producer | ||
| Warner Borrow Pit | Granite | Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Desert Lodge in 11 storm reports between 2008 and 2023: 9 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2017 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | $15,000 | Flash flooding washed out the shoulder of the S22 (Borrego Salton Seaway) near Borrego Springs. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Desert Lodge | $5,000 | A Borrego Springs mesonet station recorded a peak wind gust of 64 mph during a thunderstorm. California Highway Patrol reported power lines down on Borrego Valley Road and Rango Way, blocking both directions of traffic. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | $500 | Heavy runoff through a normally dry wash flowed over Highway 78 two miles east of Yaqui Pass, forcing a closure of the highway. |
| August 2023 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | Highway 78 was washed out at Yaqui Pass. |
| December 2023 | Flood | Desert Lodge | - | One of four crossings in Anza Borrego State Park had fast-flowing water, making it unpassable. Anza Borrego Research shared video of Coyote Creek flooding. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | Reports of water and mud covered Borrego Valley Airport after the storm's heavy rainfall. Pilots were not able to land on the runway. The airport also reported blowing dust with two miles of visibility and a wind gust to 40 mph. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | CHP reports flash flooding at Borrego Salton Seaway road at Fonts wash, where a car was stuck in the low water crossing. |
| May 2014 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding along Highway 78 at Yaqui Pass with several boulders in the roadway. A road alert was issued and the road closed for a time. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | California Highway Patrol closed Montezuma Valley Road at Mile Marker 14 because debris has made it impassable. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused normally dry washes to rapidly fill with water. Flash flooding was first observed near the intersection of Yaqui Pass Road and Highway 78, and then later observed on Borrego Springs Road just north of Highway 78. |
| August 2008 | Flash Flood | Desert Lodge | - | Highway 78 was closed due to flooded along San Felipe Creek between Borrego Springs Road and County Road S3. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borrego | 0.8 miles | 22 | |
| Borrego Springs | 4.0 miles | 35 | |
| Ranchita | 10.0 miles | 31 | |
| Scissors Crossing | 11.1 miles | 24 | |
| Ocotillo Wells | 11.2 miles | 22 | |
| San Ignacio | 12.0 miles | 35 | |
| San Ysidro | 13.0 miles | 35 | |
| San Felipe | 14.4 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.
| Wikidata item Q122562652 | 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 1660544. 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.













