La Patera, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Santa Barbara census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93117. It stands on Las Vegas Creek. The Survey maps it on the Goleta quadrangle.
Then and now
1942 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 53 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in La Patera
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 2 records
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Stow Houselisted 2000 · 0.7 miles away
Goleta Depotlisted 2002 · 0.7 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 22 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.
- 1942 USGS Goleta quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Goleta quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1951 USGS Goleta quadrangle1:24000
- 1955 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Goleta quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Santa Barbara quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1995 USGS Goleta quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
101 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of La Patera between 1992 and 2020, burning about 14,860 acres in total. None 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 | 61 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 23 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Santa Barbara County Fire Department | not named |
| 6 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | GAP |
| 30 September 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | TROUT |
| 29 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | PEDRO |
| 28 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | WINDY |
| 25 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 13 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | WINDY |
| 12 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of La Patera: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Marcos Pass Quarry | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Ellwood Ranch Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Santa Barbara Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Patera in 2 storm reports between 2014 and 2026: 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | Flash Flood | La Patera | - | Heavy rainfall forced the closure of Santa Barbara International Airport. All flights were cancelled. |
| December 2014 | Flash Flood | La Patera | - | Heavy rain generated flash flooding in the community of Isla Vista. Along El Colegio Road, several cars were submerged in flood waters. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goleta | 0.8 miles | 22 | |
| Coromar | 1.4 miles | 22 | |
| Isla Vista | 1.9 miles | 22 | |
| El Encano Heights | 2.3 miles | 24 | |
| Ellwood | 2.5 miles | 24 | |
| Orchams | 3.5 miles | 24 | |
| El Sueno | 3.8 miles | 22 | |
| Hope Ranch | 3.9 miles | 22 |
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 La Patera | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q20657915 | 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 271937. 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.










