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Echo Lake, California

35 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the South Lake Tahoe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95721. It lies near Becker Peak. The Survey maps it on the Echo Lake quadrangle. It stands 7,539 feet above sea level.

Echo Lake within El Dorado County

Then and now

1889 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Echo Lake, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Echo Lake, surveyed 1889

Compare 1889 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 35 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

392 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 392 fires within 5 miles of Echo Lake between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,494 acres in total. 104 started naturally. 21 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
Natural104
Recreation and ceremony104
Missing data/not specified/undetermined69
Smoking29
Debris and open burning24
Arson/incendiarism21
Equipment and vehicle use15
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Power generation/transmission/distribution9
Fireworks4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2009Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitTRUCKEE
9 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined34 acresLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
8 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitPANARAMA
5 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
5 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
4 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreEldorado National ForestVELMA
4 September 2003Naturalunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitLILLY
4 September 1998Naturalunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitWATERHOUSE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in El Dorado County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Echo Lake: 6 occurrences, 4 unknowns, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Chromium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
California Rock and GravelLimestone, DimensionUnknown
Dobbas MineChromium, IronPast Producer
Mountain TopGold, Copper, Molybdenum, Silver, TungstenUnknown
Ne Section 3 ProspectCopper, MolybdenumOccurrenceVein
Section 21 ProspectGypsum-AnhydriteOccurrenceSedimentary
Unidentified WorkingsGold, SilverOccurrence
Anderson PitStoneOccurrence
Anderson PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Butler PitStoneOccurrence
Butler PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown

Every working recorded in El Dorado County

Storms near this place

3 since 2019

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Echo Lake in 3 storm reports between 2019 and 2025: 2 debris flow, 1 hail. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2025HailEcho Lake-Public reported 0.75 inch hail near Meyers. Also received many reports of pea size hail accumulating up to 2-3 inches.
October 2021Debris FlowEcho Lake-US Highway 50 is closed due to a late night rock fall near Echo Summit.
December 2019Debris FlowEcho Lake-A rockslide occurred within the westbound lane of US Highway 50 approximately 2 miles east of Echo Summit on 2 December 1315PST. The highway was closed for approximately one hour to clean up. One lane controls lasted for approximately 5 to 6 hours.

Every storm recorded in El Dorado County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Little Norway0.7 miles35
Nebelhorn1.6 miles35
Meyers2.2 miles35
Phillips2.2 miles35
Fallen Leaf3.8 miles35
Twin Bridges4.6 miles35
Fountain Place5.8 miles31
Tahoe Valley5.8 miles35

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 Echo LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5332717The 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 1655987. 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.