Gorda, California
29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the San Ardo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93920. It stands on Prewitt Creek. The Survey maps it on the Cape San Martin quadrangle. It stands 148 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1921 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 74 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1921 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 29 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.
- 1921 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1941 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:62500
- 1942 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Luis Obispo quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:50000
- 1980 USGS Cambria quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1995 USGS Cape San Martin quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
50 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Gorda between 1992 and 2020, burning about 33,012 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 2 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 | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Fireworks | 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 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | JADE |
| 8 September 1999 | Natural | 344 acres | Los Padres National Forest | KIRK |
| 4 September 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | WILLOW |
| 30 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 acres | Vandenberg Air Force Base Fire Department | HIGHWAY |
| 7 August 2015 | Natural | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | WILLOW |
| 30 August 2007 | Natural | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | WILDCATTLE |
| 30 August 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | PACIFIC |
| 3 August 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | FLAT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 26 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of Gorda: 11 past producers, 8 prospects, 4 occurrences, 3 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mercury, Silver, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape San Martin | Semiprecious Gemstone | Prospect | ||
| Stonewall Claim | Gold, Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Treasure Chest | Chromium | Past Producer | ||
| Willow Creek Prospects | Asbestos | Occurrence | ||
| Gorda | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Monte Cristo Group | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| Monte Cristo Group | Mercury | Unknown | ||
| Plaskette Mine | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Ancona Mine | Gold | Prospect | ||
| Bauman Claims | Gold | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gorda in 6 storm reports between 2015 and 2019: 4 debris flow, 2 heavy rain. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2017 | Debris Flow | Gorda | $10,000,000 | Heavy winter rain caused a deep rooted debris flow to occur that covered highway 1. This slide has no estimated time for removal and has damage estimates well in to the millions.|http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/31/big-sur-coast-has-grown-13-acres-from-new-landslide/. https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-05-23/massive-slide-covers-stretch-of-iconic-california-highway. |
| December 2019 | Debris Flow | Gorda | - | CHP reporting mud/dirt/rock along CA Hwy 1 near Limekiln Campground. Reports of full closure of northbound and southbound traffic for another hour or so. |
| March 2018 | Debris Flow | Gorda | - | Highway 1 closed due to mudslide at Limekiln State Park. |
| November 2018 | Debris Flow | Gorda | - | Active slide being reported just north of Willow Creek Bridge. Hwy 1 will be closed. |
| February 2015 | Heavy Rain | Gorda | - | Monterey County ALERT gauge on Three Peaks at Elevation 3362 feet measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 10.40 inches. |
| February 2015 | Heavy Rain | Gorda | - | Monterey County ALERT gauge on Chalk Peak at Elevation 3432 feet measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 8.31 inches. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaskett | 1.1 miles | 29 | |
| Sans (historical) | 7.4 miles | 32 | |
| Lucia | 7.5 miles | 24 | |
| Hunter-Liggett | 13.3 miles | 25 | |
| Jolon | 15.7 miles | 24 | |
| Slates Hot Springs | 15.9 miles | 19 | |
| Martinus Corner | 18.5 miles | 25 | |
| Lockwood | 20.5 miles | 25 |
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 Gorda | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3475150 | 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 271364. 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.













