Merced Falls, California
30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Snelling census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95369. It lies near Table Top Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Merced Falls quadrangle. It stands 348 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1893 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 30 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.
- 1893 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1896 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1898 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1916 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1919 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1944 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Oakdale quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
113 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 113 fires within 5 miles of Merced Falls between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,262 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 9 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 | 51 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 36 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 2012 | Natural | 4.2 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | LAKE |
| 29 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MCSWAIN |
| 27 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | HAUL |
| 25 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | HORNITOS |
| 24 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | COTTON |
| 20 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | LA PALOMA |
| 19 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | MERCED |
| 15 September 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MCCLURE/PG&E #41 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 35 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 35 workings within 5 miles of Merced Falls: 12 past producers, 10 occurrences, 9 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Platinum, Silver, Zinc, Platinum. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Eagle | Copper, Zinc, Gold, Silver, Lead | Past Producer | 1890 | |
| American Eagles | Zinc, Gold, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Blue Moon | Zinc, Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Snelling | Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Osmium, Iridium | Producer | 1848, 1952 | |
| Unnamed Barite Occurrence | Barium-Barite | Unknown | ||
| Snelling Gold Dredging Co. | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1932 | |
| Yuba Consolidated Goldfields | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1930 | |
| Antler | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Antler | Gold | Unknown | ||
| B and W Mining Co. | Gold | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2023Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Merced Falls in 2 storm reports between 2023 and 2025: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2025 | Flash Flood | Merced Falls | - | California Highway Patrol reported a bridge over the Merced River at Merced Falls was washed over. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Merced Falls | - | CDF reported that some barns were washed out into the roadway on Merced Falls Rd. in Merced Falls. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snelling | 5.6 miles | 31 | |
| Edendale (historical) | 10.4 miles | 17 | |
| Hopeton | 10.7 miles | 17 | |
| Amsterdam | 12.8 miles | 17 | |
| Nairn (historical) | 13.7 miles | 17 | |
| Bellevue (historical) | 13.9 miles | 16 | |
| Arundel (historical) | 15.1 miles | 17 | |
| Calpack | 15.6 miles | 15 |
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 Merced Falls | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6818068 | 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 1659752. 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.














