Rio Dell, California
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Garberville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95562. It stands on Dean Creek. The Survey maps it on the Scotia quadrangle. 3,379 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 161 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1919 to 1989The same ground, surveyed 70 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 figuresRio Dell grew from 3,368 to 3,379 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 | 3,368 | |
| 2020 | 3,379 | +11 (+0%) |
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.
- 1919 USGS Glynn quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Scotia quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Scotia quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1970 USGS Scotia quadrangle1:24000
- 1989 USGS Cape Mendocino quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
137 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 137 fires within 5 miles of Rio Dell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 201 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 5 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 | 57 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 29 |
| Debris and open burning | 25 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Natural | 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 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | FORD |
| 7 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | SCOTIA |
| 6 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | YARD |
| 30 September 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | CARLOTTA |
| 28 September 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | CEMETARY |
| 28 September 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | LIGHTNING |
| 22 September 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | HYDESVILLE |
| 22 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | JUDY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Rio Dell: 5 producers, 3 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hackett Property | Limestone, Dimension | Prospect | ||
| Rickter Deposit | Limestone, General | Occurrence | ||
| Rickter Deposit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Unnamed Limestone | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Alton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Cook's Calley Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Eel River Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Monument Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Van Duzen River Bar | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2024Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rio Dell in 1 storm report in 2024: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rio Dell | - | Tree down blocking the roadway south of Rio Dell. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belleview | 0.9 miles | 14 | |
| Stone | 1.0 miles | 14 | |
| Metropolitan | 2.3 miles | 15 | |
| Hydesville | 3.4 miles | 14 | |
| Hacketsville | 3.5 miles | 12 | |
| Carlotta | 3.6 miles | 14 | |
| Alton | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Stafford | 4.2 miles | 12 |
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 Rio Dell | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2544177 | 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 277614. 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.







