Opal Cliffs, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Santa Cruz census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95062. It stands on Soquel Creek. The Survey maps it on the Soquel quadrangle. 5,846 people lived here at the 2010 count. It stands 46 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1912 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1912 against another survey:
On record in Opal Cliffs
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 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
- Six Sisters-Lawn Way Historic Districtlisted 1987 · 0.8 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 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.
- 1912 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1914 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1940 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Soquel quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 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
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
367 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 367 fires within 5 miles of Opal Cliffs between 1992 and 2020, burning about 125 acres in total. None started naturally. 38 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 | 189 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 58 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 38 |
| Smoking | 29 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 21 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | CATHEDRAL |
| 6 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | ZIGLER |
| 5 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PORTER |
| 30 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 15 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Opal Cliffs: 8 past producers, 4 producers, 3 occurrences. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aptos Placer | Iron, Titanium, Metal | Producer | Ilmenite, Magnetite | |
| Triumph Steel Co | Iron, Chromium, Titanium | Occurrence | ||
| Lone Star Industries Inc. | Limestone, General, Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Neary Ranch | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Pacific Cement and Aggregate Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Twin Lakes Beach | Gold | Producer | ||
| Twin Lakes Beach | Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Calplatti Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Miller Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shangri La Estates | 0.4 miles | 24 | |
| Capitola | 1.2 miles | 24 | |
| Live Oak | 1.8 miles | 24 | |
| Twin Lakes | 1.9 miles | 24 | |
| Soquel | 1.9 miles | 24 | |
| New Brighton (historical) | 2.0 miles | 24 | |
| Seabright | 2.3 miles | 16 | |
| Seacliff | 2.7 miles | 24 |
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 Opal Cliffs | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2269707 | 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 1659307. 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.










