Helena, California
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Northwest Trinity census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96010. It stands on North Fork Trinity River. The Survey maps it on the Helena quadrangle. It stands 1,391 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1909 to 1998The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1909 against another survey:
On record in Helena
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 1 record
- Helena Historic Districtlisted 1984
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 20 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.
- 1909 USGS Big Bar quadrangle1:96000, 2 printings
- 1915 USGS Big Bar and Vicinity quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1951 USGS Helena quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Redding quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1982 USGS Hayfork quadrangle1:100000
- 1982 USGS Helena quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Helena quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
125 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Helena between 1992 and 2020, burning about 87,143 acres in total. 30 started naturally. 1 was 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 |
| Natural | 30 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | BIG II |
| 9 September 1997 | Natural | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | NORTH FORK |
| 8 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | JUNCTION |
| 8 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.6 acres | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | HELENA |
| 5 September 2019 | Natural | 18 acres | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | CUTTHROAT |
| 4 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | DIGGER |
| 3 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | DUTCH 3 |
| 28 September 1994 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Central California District | ABC MISC |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 63 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 63 workings within 5 miles of Helena: 35 past producers, 13 unknowns, 10 occurrences, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Platinum, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placer Dev. Co. | Gold, Osmium, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Sourdough Group | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Valdor Dredge | Gold, Platinum, Iridium, Osmium | Producer | 1916 | |
| Lorenze | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Lorenze | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Junction City | Gold, Platinum | Producer | STREAM PLACER | |
| Old Eagle Mine | Platinum | Occurrence | ||
| Valdor | Gold, Platinum | Unknown | ||
| Antonia | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Barthol - Jacobs | Gold, Silver | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2022Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Helena in 5 storm reports between 2022 and 2025: 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2024 | Heavy Rain | Helena | $1,000 | Partial slide block the road about 2 miles east of Helena, CA.|LAT. 40.77N, LONG. -123.08W. |
| January 2025 | Heavy Rain | Helena | - | Rock slide reported in one lane of hwy 299, 2 miles east of Helena, CA. |Lat. 40.77N, Long. -123.09W. |
| March 2024 | Heavy Rain | Helena | - | A landslide blocking the westbount lane of the 299 2 miles east of Helena, CA. LAT. 40.77N, LONG. -123.09W. |
| January 2023 | Heavy Rain | Helena | - | Earth slide partially covering HWY 299. |
| December 2022 | Heavy Rain | Helena | - | Heavy rain caused a landslide across HWY 299 east of Helena. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junction City | 4.8 miles | 21 | |
| Big Bar | 7.1 miles | 20 | |
| Dedrick | 7.8 miles | 20 | |
| Globe Mill | 9.4 miles | 21 | |
| Weaverville | 10.3 miles | 26 | |
| Del Loma | 10.8 miles | 20 | |
| Douglas City | 12.8 miles | 26 | |
| Trinity Alps | 13.9 miles | 26 |
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 Helena | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5703481 | 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 261237. 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.






