Lucia, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Big Sur census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93920. It lies near Harlan Rock. The Survey maps it on the Lopez Point quadrangle. It stands 354 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
12 surveys from 24 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 Lucia quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1941 USGS Lucia quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Lucia quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Lopez Point quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Point Sur quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1995 USGS Lopez Point quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
25 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Lucia between 1992 and 2020, burning about 50,893 acres in total. 4 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 | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Los Padres National Forest | BLUESLIDE |
| 8 September 1999 | Natural | 344 acres | Los Padres National Forest | KIRK |
| 8 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | DEVIL |
| 30 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 acres | Vandenberg Air Force Base Fire Department | HIGHWAY |
| 24 September 1993 | Smoking | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | RIGDON |
| 13 September 1999 | Natural | 49,551 acres | Los Padres National Forest | HARE |
| 17 August 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | ARROYO SECO |
| 16 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Padres National Forest | LUCIA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Lucia: 2 prospects, 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Gemstone, Manganese, Geothermal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolan's Hot Springs | Geothermal | Producer | ||
| Limekeln Creek | Gemstone, Manganese | Prospect | ||
| Limekeln Creek | Gemstone | Producer | ||
| Limekiln Creek | Limestone, General | Prospect | Sedimentary | |
| Limekiln Creek-Lucia | Limestone, General | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lucia in 14 storm reports between 2004 and 2026: 7 heavy rain, 4 debris flow, 1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 | Flood | Lucia | - | Multiple landslides across California Highway 1 forced the closure of the road from mile marker 19 to mile marker 32, or Slates Hot Springs to south of Limekiln State Park. |
| February 2026 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | The Mining Ridge rain gauge reported 6.10 inches of rain from 2:30 AM on February 10 to 11:10 PM on February 11. |
| March 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lucia | - | The PG&E operated station at Lime Creek Road recorded a wind gust of 62 miles per hour associated with a passing convective shower. |
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Lucia | - | Photo on twitter showed debris flow on Highway 1 at Rat Creek within the Dolan Burn Scar area. Over 15 inches of rain fell near the area contributing to a large section of Highway 1 collapsing into the Pacific Ocean later that day. Exact cost of repairs is unknown, the section of highway will likely remain closed for months https://www.kron4.com/news/california/when-hwy-1-collapses-by-big-sur-caltrans-engineers-face-unique-challenges/. |
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Lucia | - | Mudslide onto Hwy 1 at mile marker 27. |
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Lucia | - | Video shows debris flow in Anderson Canyon this afternoon, exact timing unknown but estimated between 2 and 4 pm. |
| November 2019 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Temporary closure of Hwy 1 at Paul's Slide (mm 21.6) today at 5 pm until further notice, rainfall unknown. |
| January 2017 | Debris Flow | Lucia | - | Anderson Peak Rain Gauge reported one hour rain rates of 0.75 which met predefined rates necessary for debris flows. |
| February 2015 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Monterey County ALERT gauge on Mining Ridge at Elevation 3288 feet measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 9.53 inches. |
| November 2012 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Observations at 3288 feet elevation measured heavy rainfall. Minor urban and small stream flooding was observed across Monterey County due to the heavy rainfall. |
| November 2012 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Observations at 3288 feet elevation measured heavy rainfall. Minor urban and small stream flooding was observed across Monterey County due to the heavy rainfall. |
| November 2012 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Observations at 3368 feet elevation measured heavy rainfall. Minor urban and small stream flooding was observed across Monterey County due to the heavy rainfall. |
| November 2012 | Heavy Rain | Lucia | - | Storm total rainfall of 8.03 inches measured at Mining Ridge RAWS site at 3288 feet elevation. 3.42 inches of this rain fell in the past 3 hours prior to the report. Minor flooding of urban areas and small streams was observed across Monterey County during this event. |
| December 2004 | Flash Flood | Lucia | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorda | 7.5 miles | 29 | |
| Plaskett | 8.4 miles | 29 | |
| Slates Hot Springs | 8.4 miles | 19 | |
| Sans (historical) | 11.7 miles | 32 | |
| Tassajara Hot Springs | 14.7 miles | 23 | |
| Arroyo Center | 15.2 miles | 26 | |
| Hunter-Liggett | 16.5 miles | 25 | |
| Millers Ranch | 17.2 miles | 21 |
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 Lucia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6696610 | 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 1660963. 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.











