Pescadero, California
38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Half Moon Bay census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94060. It stands on Bradley Creek. The Survey maps it on the San Gregorio quadrangle. 595 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Then and now
1902 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1902 against another survey:
On record in Pescadero
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 5 records
First Congregational Church of Pescaderolisted 1980
Methodist Episcopal Church of Pescaderolisted 1982
Pigeon Point Lighthouselisted 1977- Dickerman Barnlisted 1982
- Green Oaks Ranch Houselisted 1976
Population over time
2 figuresPescadero fell from 643 to 595 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 | 643 | |
| 2020 | 595 | -48 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
19 surveys from 38 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.
- 1902 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:125000, 9 printings
- 1940 USGS Halfmoon Bay quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Halfmoon Bay quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS San Gregorio quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Half Moon Bay quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS San Gregorio quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1964 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Palo Alto quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS San Francisco quadrangle1:250000
- 1991 USGS San Gregorio quadrangle1:24000
- 1997 USGS San Gregorio quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
72 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 72 fires within 5 miles of Pescadero between 1992 and 2020, burning about 74 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 23 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | BUTANO |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | RIDGEWOOD |
| 8 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | SERIES |
| 8 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | P.G.& E.#12B |
| 6 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | STAGE |
| 5 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | SAN GREGORIO BEACH SAN_GR |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | GRAGORIO |
| 25 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PESCADERO CREEK RD PESCA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Pescadero: 3 producers, 3 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Gemstone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Silver, Potassium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Location | Gold, Silver, Potassium | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Gold, Potassium, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Archibald | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Pascadero Beach | Gemstone | Producer | ||
| Pascadero Beach | Gemstone | Past Producer | ||
| Pescadero Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pescadero in 12 storm reports between 1998 and 2017: 9 flash flood, 2 flood, 1 debris flow. 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 1998 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | $200,000 | no account filed |
| January 2010 | Flood | Pescadero | $20,000 | Rescuers pulled six people out of cars that stalled in 3-foot water in Pescadero. |
| February 2009 | Flood | Pescadero | $8,000 | Pescadero Creek Road flooded stranding two vehicles from many hours. |
| December 2012 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | $500 | The water level on the Pescadero Creek at Pescadero gauge reached 14.56 feet. Flooding begins at this location at levels above 12.0 feet. This is the peak level of the flash flood event. |
| December 2012 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | $500 | The water level on the Pescadero Creek at Pescadero gauge reached 13.23 feet. At this location, flooding occurs with levels above 12.0 feet. |
| December 2012 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | $500 | The water level on the Pescadero Creek at Pescadero gauge reached 14.47 feet. Minor flooding begins at levels above 12.0 feet at this location. |
| December 2012 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | $500 | Levels at the gauge on Pescadero Creek near Pescadero reached 12.86 feet. Minor flooding on the Creek at this location will begin with levels above 12.0 feet. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Pescadero | - | Debris flow blocking part of roadway near Cloverdale Rd and Pescadero Creek Rd. |
| February 2017 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | - | Stream gauge on the Pescadero River near Pescadero exceeded flood stage between 7 pm on February 20 and 12:30 am on February 21. |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | - | Pescadero Creek |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | - | Pescadero Creek |
| February 2000 | Flash Flood | Pescadero | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butano Park | 3.2 miles | 38 | |
| Dearborn Park | 3.4 miles | 36 | |
| Loma Mar | 4.0 miles | 36 | |
| San Gregorio | 5.0 miles | 38 | |
| Bellvale | 5.1 miles | 36 | |
| Redwood Terrace | 6.2 miles | 36 | |
| La Honda | 7.2 miles | 36 | |
| Martins Beach | 8.4 miles | 38 |
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 Pescadero | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3476563 | 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 1659375. 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.


















