BlockBefore

Foresta, California

35 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1897 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Yosemite Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95389. It lies near Big Meadow. The Survey maps it on the El Portal quadrangle. It stands 4,314 feet above sea level.

Foresta within Mariposa County

Then and now

1897 to 2004

The same ground, surveyed 107 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Foresta, surveyed 2004
Topographic sheet of Foresta, surveyed 1897

On record in Foresta

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 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

168 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 168 fires within 5 miles of Foresta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 18,585 acres in total. 67 started naturally. 3 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
Natural67
Recreation and ceremony31
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Debris and open burning13
Equipment and vehicle use13
Smoking10
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Fireworks1

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 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSierra National ForestWEST
8 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreYosemite National ParkLINE
7 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use15 acresYosemite National ParkRATTKESNAKE
6 September 1993Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresYosemite National ParkDEVIL
6 September 1993Smokingunder an acreYosemite National ParkTAMARACK
5 September 2004Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreYosemite National ParkLOOP 300
5 September 2004Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreYosemite National ParkLOG
3 September 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreYosemite National ParkNEIGHBOR

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mariposa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 51 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 51 workings within 5 miles of Foresta: 34 occurrences, 8 past producers, 5 producers, 2 unknowns. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Tungsten, Gold, Barium-Barite, Lead, Zinc. 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
Eureka IiiGold, Lead, ZincPast Producer1868
Williams BrothersGold, Zinc, LeadPast ProducerGold, Pyrite, Sphalerite
Barium QueenBarium-BariteUnknown
Barium QueenBarium-BariteOccurrenceBarite
El Portal Barite MineBarium-BariteProducerBarite
El Portal Barite MineBarium-BaritePast Producer
CabinGoldOccurrence
Crystal QuartzGoldUnknown
El Rico No. 1GoldOccurrence
El Rio No. 1GoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Mariposa County

Storms near this place

6 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Foresta in 6 storm reports between 2017 and 2022: 4 flood, 2 debris flow. The reports record 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2022Debris FlowForesta2 killedYosemite National Park employees reported two people were killed by a rockslide near the intersection of SR 140 and Big Oak Flat Road in Yosemite National Park.
June 2019FloodForesta-The Merced River at Pohono Bridge reached it's flood stage at 10 feet for around 6 hours between 1 am PDT on June 6 and 700 am PDT on June 6 and again for around 6 hours between 11 pm PDT on June 6 and 500 am PDT on June 7. The river crested at 10.13 feet at 500 am PDT on June 6.
April 2018FloodForesta-The Merced River at Pohono Bridge exceeded it's food state of 10 feet between the morning of April 7 and the afternoon of April 8. It crested at 13.7 feet during the afternoon of April 7. The flooding closed Northside Drive and Southside Drive in Yosemite Valley which are the main roads in the valley.
May 2017FloodForesta-The Merced River at Pohono Bridge exceeded it's flood stage at 10 feet on May 2 and remained above flood stage through May 13. Flood stage was exceeded again between May 22 and May 25 and between May 28 through the end of the month.
September 2017Debris FlowForesta-National Park Service employees at Yosemite National Park reported a rock slide at Dog Rock that closed State Route 140 2 miles east of El Portal due to large boulders on the road.
June 2017FloodForesta-The Merced River at Pohono Bridge remained above it's flood stage at 10 feet on as June began and remained above flood stage through June 7. Flood stage was exceeded again between June 19 and June 23.

Every storm recorded in Mariposa 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
Buena Vista2.2 miles35
El Portal2.2 miles35
Yosemite West4.0 miles29
Incline5.8 miles35
Hite Cove6.4 miles35
Clearing House6.4 miles35
Jerseydale10.8 miles35
North Wawona11.9 miles28

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 ForestaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5469208The 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 260258. 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.