Pinnacles, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the San Benito-Bitterwater census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95043. The Survey maps it on the Bickmore Canyon quadrangle.
Then and now
1919 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 64 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Pinnacles
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.
Bear Valley Schoollisted 2014 · 0.2 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 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.
- 1919 USGS San Benito quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1931 USGS San Benito quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1940 USGS San Benito quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS San Benito quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Bickmore Canyon quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
45 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Pinnacles between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,756 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 2 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 | 22 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 September 2001 | Natural | under an acre | Pinnacles National Park | NORTH WEST |
| 25 September 2001 | Natural | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | HWY-25#3 |
| 16 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | HWY 25 |
| 12 September 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | PGE 21 |
| 6 August 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | GLORIA |
| 5 August 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,154 acres | Pinnacles National Park | PINNACLES |
| 31 August 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5.3 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | AIRLINE |
| 30 August 2007 | Natural | 486 acres | San Benito-Monterey Unit | QUIEN |
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 Pinnacles: 4 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Mercury, Copper, Strontium, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Mountain | Copper, Gold, Silver, Molybdenum | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Molybdenite | |
| Pinnacles National Monument | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Butte Mine | Mercury, Strontium | Producer | ||
| Butte Mine | Mercury, Strontium | Past Producer | ||
| Copper Mountain Mining Co. | Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Butts | Mercury | Past Producer | 1900, 1915 | |
| Cannon | Mercury | Occurrence | Cinnabar | |
| Cerro Gordo | Mercury | Occurrence | Cinnabar |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Benito | 3.7 miles | 20 | |
| Bitterwater | 12.8 miles | 23 | |
| Llanada | 13.3 miles | 19 | |
| Paicines | 15.4 miles | 21 | |
| Panoche | 17.1 miles | 20 | |
| Vineyard (historical) | 19.8 miles | 26 | |
| Tres Pinos | 20.2 miles | 24 | |
| Ridgemark | 22.7 miles | 24 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 252765. 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.











