Orick, California
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1945 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the North Coastal census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95555. It stands on Orick Hill. The Survey maps it on the Orick quadrangle. 328 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 26 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1945 to 1982The same ground, surveyed 37 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Orick
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
Prairie Creek Fish Hatcherylisted 2000- Lyons Ranches Historic Districtlisted 2018
Population over time
2 figuresOrick fell from 357 to 328 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 357 | |
| 2020 | 328 | -29 (-8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 12 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.
- 1945 USGS Orick quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Orick quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Crescent City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1966 USGS Orick quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Orick quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
100 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 100 fires within 5 miles of Orick between 1992 and 2020, burning about 55 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 10 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17 |
| Natural | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Redwood National and State Parks | OVERLOOK |
| 8 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Redwood National and State Parks | GANNS1 |
| 6 September 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Redwood National and State Parks | LADY BIRD |
| 6 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Redwood National and State Parks | GANNS 2 |
| 6 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Redwood National and State Parks | LOST |
| 6 September 2003 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Redwood National and State Parks | GANNS 3 |
| 6 September 2003 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Redwood National and State Parks | GANNS 4 |
| 3 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Redwood National and State Parks | BOND |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Orick: 3 producers, 2 occurrences, 2 unknowns, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Lagoon Drive | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Two States Mining Co. | Gold, Platinum | Producer | 1852 | |
| Mcarthur | Chromium | Unknown | ||
| Redwood Creek Bar | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Redwood Creek Bypass | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Chromium | Occurrence | Chromite | |
| Unknown | Gold | Occurrence | Placer | |
| Unnamed Location | Gold | Unknown |
Storms near this place
7 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orick in 7 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 2 hail, 2 flood, 1 funnel cloud, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Hail | Orick | $4,000 | Law enforcement report of small hail covering Highway 101 in northern Humboldt County around 3:41 a.m. Law enforcement report stated a car accident occurred on the hail covered road. Duration of small hail and exact size unknown, though likely smaller than pea size. |
| March 2024 | Heavy Rain | Orick | $3,500 | Debris flow blocking both norht and south lanes of traffic about 3 miles south southwest of Orick, CA. LAT. 41.23N, LONG. -124.08W. |
| February 2019 | Hail | Orick | $1,500 | Report of an accident due to a hail covered roadway. Troopers requested a plow to clear the roadway. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Orick | - | Flooding reported on Highway 101 between Davidson Road and Lost Man Creek. Davidson Road also flooded. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Orick | - | Flooding of Prairie Creek led to the shutdown of Davidson Road in Redwood National Park. |
| February 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orick | - | Patrick's Point State Park |
| December 2003 | Funnel Cloud | Orick | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ore'q (historical) | 0.1 miles | 12 | |
| Berry Glenn | 2.3 miles | 12 | |
| Elk Grove (historical) | 5.7 miles | 12 | |
| Big Lagoon | 9.6 miles | 11 | |
| Mettah | 10.1 miles | 15 | |
| Notchko | 10.1 miles | 15 | |
| Johnsons | 10.9 miles | 15 | |
| Shregegon (historical) | 11.3 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 Orick | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6052841 | 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 230092. 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.







