Inyokern, California
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93527. The Survey maps it on the Inyokern quadrangle. 988 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,434 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1993The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Inyokern
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
Bandit Rocklisted 1975
Population over time
2 figuresInyokern fell from 1,099 to 988 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 | 1,099 | |
| 2020 | 988 | -111 (-10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 23 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.
- 1915 USGS Searles Lake quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1943 USGS Inyokern quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1947 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Inyokern quadrangle1:24000
- 1993 USGS Ridgecrest quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
13 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Inyokern between 2005 and 2016, burning about 7 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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 | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.6 acres | California Desert District | NONAME |
| 3 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 1.6 acres | California Desert District | OWENS |
| 22 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 21 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 1118 |
| 19 September 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 3 August 2012 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | 178 |
| 9 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | BOWMAN |
| 4 July 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Inyokern: 5 past producers, 2 unknowns, 1 prospect, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tungsten, Copper, Antimony. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Peak Mine | Tungsten, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Scheelite | |
| Tungsten Peak Mine | Tungsten, Antimony | Past Producer | ||
| Wilkerson No. 1 Prospect | Thorium | Prospect | ||
| Yellow Treasure Mine | Gold, Copper | Producer | ||
| High Peak Mine | Tungsten | Past Producer | ||
| Bertrand Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bowman Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Caltrans #262 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Caltrans #264 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
6 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Inyokern in 6 storm reports between 1999 and 2017: 2 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Inyokern | $10,000 | Nine trees were reported blown down in Inyokern from a thunderstorm downburst. |
| July 1999 | Lightning | Inyokern | $5,000 | Numerous lightning strikes in the vicinity of Inyokern and Ridgecrest. A pole fire resulted as early as 1430 PST from a lightning strike with another report as late as 1510 PST in Ridgecrest. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Inyokern | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Flash Flood | Inyokern | - | Kern County Fire Department responded to a stranded car at the Buttermilk Acres crossing of Inyokern Road at 1840 PDT. Locally heavy rain had occurred in desert thunderstorm activity with 0.65" reported at Inyokern on the daily report. |
| June 2006 | Lightning | Inyokern | - | no account filed |
| February 2001 | Flood | Inyokern | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Lake Acres | 2.6 miles | 23 | |
| Indian Wells | 3.4 miles | 23 | |
| Leliter (historical) | 4.5 miles | 23 | |
| Bradys | 4.8 miles | 23 | |
| Freeman Junction | 5.7 miles | 23 | |
| Terese (historical) | 5.8 miles | 23 | |
| Ridgecrest Heights | 6.8 miles | 23 | |
| Ridgecrest | 7.7 miles | 23 |
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 Inyokern | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q256695 | 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 243875. 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.








