Elfin Forest, California
43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the San Diego census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92029. It lies near San Elijo Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Rancho Santa Fe quadrangle. 600 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Then and now
1893 to 1996The 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.


Compare 1893 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
16 surveys from 43 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.
- 1893 USGS Escondido quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1901 USGS Escondido quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1901 USGS San Luis Rey quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1942 USGS Escondido quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Rancho Santa Fe quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Rancho Santa Fe quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Rancho Santa Fe quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1982 USGS Oceanside quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Rancho Santa Fe quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
225 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 225 fires within 5 miles of Elfin Forest between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,530 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 | 117 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 65 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 6 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | ELISO |
| 7 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | HARMONY |
| 5 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | San Diego Unit | HARMONY |
| 3 September 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.3 acres | San Diego Unit | HARMONY |
| 3 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.5 acres | San Diego Unit | HORIZON |
| 27 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.1 acres | San Diego Unit | DEER |
| 27 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Diego Unit | CHICKEN |
| 26 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | HERRMANN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 43 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 43 workings within 5 miles of Elfin Forest: 17 past producers, 11 producers, 9 prospects, 5 occurrences. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encinitas | Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Vein | |
| San Marcos Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Carmean Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Greenstone Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Harris Deposit | Talc-Soapstone, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Pioneer Deposit | Talc-Soapstone | Past Producer | ||
| Pioneer Mine | Talc-Soapstone | Producer | Pyrophyllite | |
| Stone Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Dorothy and Pearl Claims | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Encinitas Mine | Copper | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harmony Grove | 2.2 miles | 43 | |
| Del Dios | 2.4 miles | 43 | |
| Olivenhain | 4.2 miles | 43 | |
| Rancho Santa Fe | 4.2 miles | 43 | |
| Lake San Marcos | 4.3 miles | 40 | |
| San Marcos | 4.8 miles | 40 | |
| Escondido | 5.2 miles | 43 | |
| La Costa | 5.5 miles | 50 |
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 Elfin Forest | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5359898 | 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 1868812. 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.















