South Fork, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Oakhurst-North Fork census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93643. It stands on Pitcher Creek. The Survey maps it on the Cascadel Point quadrangle. It stands 2,651 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1904 to 2004The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1904 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 27 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.
- 1904 USGS Kaiser quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1947 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Shaver Lake quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Mariposa quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Shaver Lake quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1982 USGS Cascadel Point quadrangle1:24000
- 1993 USGS Cascadel Point quadrangle1:24000
- 2004 USGS Cascadel Point quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
308 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 308 fires within 5 miles of South Fork between 1992 and 2020, burning about 12,707 acres in total. 24 started naturally. 23 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 | 107 |
| Debris and open burning | 58 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 46 |
| Natural | 24 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 23 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Smoking | 10 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Sierra National Forest | PECKINPAH |
| 8 September 2008 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | RD 221 / PIUTE RD |
| 7 September 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Sierra National Forest | FORK |
| 7 September 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | RD 200 / WYLE RANCH RD |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | KOWANA LN NORTH_FORK |
| 6 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.8 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | 200 |
| 6 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17 acres | Sierra National Forest | CORRINE |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MOUNTAIN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of South Fork: 2 prospects, 2 unknowns, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Tungsten, Manganese, Gold. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telles & Morton Mine | Gold | Prospect | ||
| Thornberry Deposit | Manganese | Occurrence | Residual | |
| Ellis | Tungsten | Unknown | ||
| Hughes Claim | Tungsten | Prospect | ||
| Pine Grove Mine | Tungsten | Unknown |
Storms near this place
3 since 2020Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names South Fork in 3 storm reports between 2020 and 2023: 1 funnel cloud, 1 flash flood, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | Flash Flood | South Fork | - | A Fresno television station reported an evacuation order was issued by Madera County for flash flooding in the Bass Lake and North Fork areas, including the Bass Lake Mobile Home Park in North Fork. |
| March 2023 | Flood | South Fork | - | California Highway Patrol reported Redinger Lane was washed out. |
| May 2020 | Funnel Cloud | South Fork | - | Public observation of a funnel cloud near North Fork. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Fork | 0.8 miles | 26 | |
| Cascadel Woods | 2.1 miles | 27 | |
| Bass Lake Annex | 3.5 miles | 24 | |
| Whisky Falls | 4.8 miles | 24 | |
| The Pines | 6.8 miles | 24 | |
| Fine Gold | 7.2 miles | 26 | |
| Bass Lake | 7.5 miles | 24 | |
| Central Camp | 8.2 miles | 24 |
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 South Fork | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7567256 | 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 1656321. 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.









