Elk Creek, California
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Willows census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95939. It stands on Elk Creek. The Survey maps it on the Elk Creek quadrangle. 138 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 745 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1919 to 1996The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1919 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresElk Creek fell from 163 to 138 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 | 163 | |
| 2020 | 138 | -25 (-15%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 16 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.
- 1919 USGS Elk Creek quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Elk Creek quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Elk Creek quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Ukiah quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Ukiah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Elk Creek quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1987 USGS Willows quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Elk Creek quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
83 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Elk Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,063 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 5 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 | 31 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 20 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 acres | Northern California District | THUNDER |
| 5 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Northern California District | STONEY |
| 3 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tehama-Glenn Unit | 306 |
| 27 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Mendocino National Forest | ELK 2 |
| 26 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Tehama-Glenn Unit | FRUTO |
| 23 September 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Tehama-Glenn Unit | SANHEDRIN |
| 22 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Central California Agency | GRINDSTONE |
| 16 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tehama-Glenn Unit | ELK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Elk Creek: 5 occurrences, 3 producers, 1 past producer, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mercury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turner Ranch | Mercury | Occurrence | Cinnabar | |
| Unknown | Chromium | Occurrence | Chromite | |
| Elk Creek Bar | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Stony Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Titanic | Gold | Occurrence | 1922 | |
| Titanic | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Hummingbird | Manganese | Occurrence | Psilomelane, Pyrolusite | |
| Hummingbird | Manganese | Prospect | ||
| Levensaler and Speir Prospect | Manganese | Past Producer | 1917 | |
| Levensaler and Spier | Manganese | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruto | 4.8 miles | 14 | |
| Meyers Place | 8.2 miles | 15 | |
| Chrome | 8.6 miles | 16 | |
| Wilson Place | 8.6 miles | 13 | |
| Dogtown | 9.3 miles | 15 | |
| Reynolds Place (historical) | 10.3 miles | 16 | |
| Alder Springs | 10.4 miles | 16 | |
| Millsholm (historical) | 11.2 miles | 18 |
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 Elk Creek | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5363990 | 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 1655993. 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.







