Fallen Leaf, 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 96150. It stands on Glen Alpine Creek. The Survey maps it on the Emerald Bay quadrangle. It stands 6,427 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1889 to 1992The 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 1889 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 35 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.
- 1889 USGS Pyramid Peak quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Pyramid Peak quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Pyramid Peak quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1896 USGS Pyramid Peak quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1947 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Emerald Bay quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Fallen Leaf Lake quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1956 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1976 USGS Placerville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1992 USGS Emerald Bay quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
492 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 492 fires within 5 miles of Fallen Leaf between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,506 acres in total. 65 started naturally. 36 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 143 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 99 |
| Natural | 65 |
| Smoking | 64 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 36 |
| Debris and open burning | 31 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 22 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 18 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
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 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | TRUCKEE |
| 9 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34 acres | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | not named |
| 8 September 2003 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | PANARAMA |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | VALHALLA |
| 7 September 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | EIGHT |
| 7 September 1994 | Smoking | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | not named |
| 5 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | GRANITE |
| 5 September 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit | SUZY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Fallen Leaf: 6 occurrences, 5 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Limestone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Rock and Gravel | Limestone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Scandium | Unknown | ||
| Anderson Pit | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Butler Pit | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Anderson Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Butler Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Quarry 1 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Gilmore Lake Prospect | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Golden Rule | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Josie Group | Gold | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
7 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fallen Leaf in 7 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 4 heavy rain, 1 debris flow, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 8 deaths. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fallen Leaf | 8 killed | Buoy data on Lake Tahoe indicated a northerly wind gust of 45 mph from nearby showers and collapsing thunderstorms. This caused significant waves on Lake Tahoe, with multiple boats damaged and one boat capsized near Emerald Bay, causing 8 fatalities out of the 10 on board. The two that survived were wearing life jackets, while the other 8 did not. |
| October 2021 | Heavy Rain | Fallen Leaf | - | CoCoRahs Observers, trained spotter, and Mesonet/ASOS sites reported rainfall amounts 1.0-2.0 around Echo Lake, 2.0-4.0 from Echo Summit to Meyers, CA; and 6.0-8.0 reported from Meyers, CA to South Lake Tahoe, CA.||A trained spotter located 2.0mi NW of Meyers, CA (COCORAHS STATION CA-ED-20) reported 24 hour total for rain-snow melt of 8.40 inches. The trained spotter also reported 4 inches of snow fell with SWE of 1.14 inches. |
| April 2018 | Heavy Rain | Fallen Leaf | - | Mesonet station FLFC1, 2 miles southeast of Emerald Bay (elevation 6241 feet) reported 1.90 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 6 April 0800PST to 7 April 0800PST. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Fallen Leaf | - | Mesonet station FLFC1, 2 miles southeast of Emerald Bay (elevation 6241 feet) reported 0.50 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period from 13 July 2000PST to 14 July 2000PST. |
| January 2017 | Heavy Rain | Fallen Leaf | - | There was 1 of new snow at elevation 4050', 9 NNW Twin Bridges. |
| July 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Fallen Leaf | - | Two photographs indicated a waterspout on Lake Tahoe. Eyewitnesses noted that the waterspout started near the mouth of Emerald Bay and moved quickly southeast towards Tahoe Keys. The waterspout dissipated before reaching land. |
| December 2012 | Debris Flow | Fallen Leaf | - | The California Highway Patrol reported boulders on highway 89 near Emerald Bay State Park. An estimated 2 to 3 inches of precipitation was reported (SNOTEL/RAWS observations), mostly within the previous 12 hours. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Creek | 3.2 miles | 35 | |
| Meyers | 3.7 miles | 35 | |
| Echo Lake | 3.8 miles | 35 | |
| Tallac Village | 3.8 miles | 35 | |
| Camp Richardson | 3.9 miles | 35 | |
| Kiva Beach | 4.1 miles | 35 | |
| Tahoe Valley | 4.2 miles | 35 | |
| Little Norway | 4.5 miles | 35 |
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 Fallen Leaf | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5432251 | 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 1656008. 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.











