Palo Cedro, California
26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Redding census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96073. It stands on Little Cow Creek. The Survey maps it on the Palo Cedro quadrangle. 2,931 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 469 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1890 to 1984The same ground, surveyed 94 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresPalo Cedro grew from 1,269 to 2,931 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 | 1,269 | |
| 2020 | 2,931 | +1,662 (+131%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 26 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.
- 1890 USGS Red Bluff quadrangle1:250000
- 1894 USGS Red Bluff quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1901 USGS Redding quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1953 USGS Millville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Redding quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1965 USGS Palo Cedro quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Redding quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
585 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 585 fires within 5 miles of Palo Cedro between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,868 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 63 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 185 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 |
| Debris and open burning | 81 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 63 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 43 |
| Smoking | 37 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 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 2007 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | STARWOOD |
| 8 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity Unit | BOYLE |
| 8 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity Unit | STILLWATER |
| 8 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity Unit | WOODYS |
| 8 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Shasta-Trinity Unit | OLD#2 |
| 8 September 1992 | Smoking | 2.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | CLOUGH |
| 7 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Shasta-Trinity Unit | OLD ALTURAS RD SHASTAC 5 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Palo Cedro: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zumwaldt | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Cow Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Stillwater Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 2025Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Palo Cedro in 4 storm reports in 2025: 4 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 | Flood | Palo Cedro | - | The California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at Swede Creek Road and Ford Lane, leading to closure of the roadway. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Palo Cedro | - | The California Highway Patrol reported the roadway completely flooded at Deschutes Road and Boyle Road from heavy rain. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Palo Cedro | - | The California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at Deschutes Rd. and State Route 44 near Palo Cedro from heavy rain. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Palo Cedro | - | The California Highway Patrol Reported roadway flooding at Vista Oaks Drive and Deschutes Road from heavy rain. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millville | 3.5 miles | 26 | |
| Loomis Corners | 3.9 miles | 31 | |
| Frazier Corners | 5.1 miles | 29 | |
| Bella Vista | 5.3 miles | 29 | |
| Henryford (historical) | 5.5 miles | 26 | |
| Enterprise | 5.5 miles | 31 | |
| Pacheco | 6.1 miles | 31 | |
| Houston (historical) | 6.9 miles | 30 |
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 Palo Cedro | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2401513 | 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 230275. 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.






