Olema, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Northwest Marin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94950. The Survey maps it on the Inverness quadrangle. It stands 69 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1916 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 67 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Olema
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 2 records
Olema Lime Kilnslisted 1976- Olema Valley Dairy Ranches Historic Districtlisted 2018
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 28 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.
- 1916 USGS Point Reyes quadrangle1:48000
- 1916 USGS Point Reyes quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Point Reyes quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1947 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Inverness quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1954 USGS Point Reyes quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Napa quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
45 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Olema between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,311 acres in total. 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 1994 | Smoking | under an acre | Point Reyes National Seashore | SKIDPAN |
| 26 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.4 acres | Point Reyes National Seashore | SHORELINE |
| 22 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Point Reyes National Seashore | HAGGERTY |
| 21 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.2 acres | Point Reyes National Seashore | DRAKE 2 |
| 20 September 1993 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 52 acres | Golden Gate National Recreation Area | GENAZZI |
| 11 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Marin County Fire Department | not named |
| 10 September 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 151 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 August 1992 | Fireworks | 2.2 acres | Golden Gate National Recreation Area | OLEMA I |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Olema: 14 occurrences, 2 unknowns, 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tungsten, Gold, Mercury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Mountain | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Fort Baker | Manganese, Gold | Occurrence | Psilomelane | |
| Heaton's Flat | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Mount Tamalpais Cemetery Quarry. | Stone, Stone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Gemstone | Occurrence | ||
| Claims | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| Claims | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| Inverness | Tungsten | Occurrence | Scheelite | |
| Inverness Ridge | Gold | Unknown | ||
| Inverness Ridge | Gold | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
5 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Olema in 5 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2014 | Flash Flood | Olema | $1,000 | Flooding from Pt. Reyes to Olema on Highway 1. Campground flooded. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Olema | - | California Highway 1 was flooded on both sides at Bear Valley Road. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Olema | - | Flooding blocked the northbound lanes of California Highway 1 at Bear Valley Road. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Olema | - | Flooding along Hwy 1 between Olema and Point Reyes Station. |
| December 2019 | Flood | Olema | - | Hwy 1 northbound lane is totally flooded. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tocaloma | 1.7 miles | 28 | |
| Point Reyes Station | 2.2 miles | 28 | |
| Jewell | 2.3 miles | 23 | |
| Inverness Park | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Taylorville (historical) | 2.6 miles | 23 | |
| Five Brooks | 3.2 miles | 28 | |
| Irving (historical) | 3.8 miles | 23 | |
| Bivalve | 4.1 miles | 28 |
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 Olema | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7086339 | 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 1659297. 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.










