Sugarloaf, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Big Bear census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92386. It lies near Sawmill Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Moonridge quadrangle. It stands 7,096 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1901 to 1996The 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 1901 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 34 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.
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1902 USGS San Gorgonio quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS San Gorgonio Mountain quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Moonridge quadrangle1:24000
- 1959 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Moonridge quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1982 USGS Big Bear Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1996 USGS Moonridge quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
490 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 490 fires within 5 miles of Sugarloaf between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,665 acres in total. 133 started naturally. 15 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 | 206 |
| Natural | 133 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 52 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 23 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 17 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Smoking | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Other causes | 10 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
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 2015 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | VANDUSEN |
| 8 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | RANGER |
| 8 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | MAPLE |
| 8 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | SAND |
| 7 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | San Bernardino National Forest | FLAT |
| 7 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | not named |
| 6 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | SUGARLOAF 2 |
| 6 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | San Bernardino National Forest | BERTHA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 46 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 46 workings within 5 miles of Sugarloaf: 20 past producers, 12 occurrences, 7 prospects, 6 unknowns. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Uranium, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Graphite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bertha Peak | Gold, Copper | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Carbonate Mine | Lead, Silver, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Gail Claim | Gold, Platinum, Limestone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Gold Hill | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | Surface/Underground | |
| Gold Hill Mine | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| H. L. Brown Desert View Claims | Beryllium | Prospect | ||
| Hilltop | Gold, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Red Jacket | Lead, Copper, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Scotty Wilson | Silver, Zinc, Lead | Past Producer | Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Scotty Wilson Mine | Zinc, Lead, Silver | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sugarloaf in 15 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 6 heavy rain, 3 flood, 3 flash flood, 1 dust devil. 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 2019 | Flash Flood | Sugarloaf | $100,000 | Flash flooding in Big Bear City with up to 1 foot of moving water and 2 feet of standing water in the city streets. Water flows in to Lucerne Valley produced a large standing lake near Highway 18. Big Bear City received up 6 inches of rain in 24 hours. |
| July 1999 | Flood | Sugarloaf | $20,000 | Thunderstorms during the morning hours washed rocks and mud across Highway 38 and the road leading to Mount Baldy. |
| May 2003 | Dust Devil | Sugarloaf | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Lightning | Sugarloaf | $10,000 | Earth Networks detected several dozen lightning strikes across the High Desert west of Victorville and across the San Bernardino mountains including Big Bear city and affect SR 38 and 18. |
| February 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sugarloaf | - | County fire reports tree fell and collapsed a roof in the Woodlands Neighborhood in Big Bear City. Wind estimates in the area near 50-55 mph. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Sugarloaf | - | Arrowbear Bridge submerged due to flood waters. |
| August 2023 | Flash Flood | Sugarloaf | - | Portions of State Highway 38 near the Heart Bar Campground were washed out. |
| September 2023 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | Heavy rain fell across the San Bernardino County Mountains on September 1st, runoff from which contributed to some flooding near the Phelan area. Totals were largely in the 0.25-1.00 range, but some localized higher totals fell at Middle Fork Lytle Creek (MFLC1) where 1.56 of rain fell, with roughly 1.50 of rain falling in Wrightwood. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Sugarloaf | - | Roadway flooding near 1509 Shay Rd in Big Bear City. North and south side of Shay Road was flooded. Storm survey by WCM showed several inches of water still flowing over Shay Road. Radar estimated 2 to 3 inches of rain in less than 3 hours. Water flowed around numerous homes, flowing into Baldwin Lake. Nearby Big Bear Yard reported 1.80 inches. |
| August 2022 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | Mesonet station EW3043 Big Bear City measured 1 inch of rain in 90 minutes. |
| August 2022 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | Rainfall of 0.61 inches was measured between 12:45 PM and 2 PM. |
| July 2022 | Flood | Sugarloaf | - | Drainage ditch overflowing with flooding on both sides of Highway 38 near Mitchell Lane. |
| July 2021 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | Big Bear City reports 0.45 inches of rain in approximately one half hour from monsoon thunderstorm. |
| July 2021 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | Heavy rain from monsoonal thunderstorms with 1.60 inches of rain measured at Big Bear City Station, 0.29 inches of which fell in 5 minutes from 6:10 PM until 6:15 PM. |
| August 2010 | Heavy Rain | Sugarloaf | - | The Big Bear City South Mesonet site reported 1.02 inches of rain fell between 1045 and 1145 PST on August 25th. The storm total for that site was 1.54 inches, which fell between 0945 and 1245 PST. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlands | 1.5 miles | 34 | |
| Big Bear City | 1.5 miles | 39 | |
| Moonridge | 1.5 miles | 34 | |
| Baldwin Lake | 3.0 miles | 39 | |
| Minnelusa | 3.7 miles | 35 | |
| Doble | 3.8 miles | 39 | |
| Big Bear Lake | 4.4 miles | 36 | |
| The Pines (historical) | 5.7 miles | 36 |
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 Sugarloaf | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7635000 | 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 273936. 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.













