Thousand Palms, California
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Desert Hot Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92276. The Survey maps it on the Cathedral City quadrangle. 7,967 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 246 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1904 to 1984The same ground, surveyed 80 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:
Population over time
2 figuresThousand Palms grew from 7,715 to 7,967 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 | 7,715 | |
| 2020 | 7,967 | +252 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 33 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 Indio quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1941 USGS Edom quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Edom quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Cathedral City quadrangle1:24000, 8 printings
- 1958 USGS Thousand Palms quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Cathedral City quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Palm Springs quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
362 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 362 fires within 5 miles of Thousand Palms between 1992 and 2020, burning about 452 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 39 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 | 200 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 47 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 39 |
| Smoking | 23 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 20 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | MONTEREY AV / SAGEWOOD DR |
| 7 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge | LOCAL |
| 5 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge | VEH FIRE |
| 4 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LEHIGH CT RANM |
| 30 September 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 acres | Riverside Unit | COUNTRY CLUB DR PDES |
| 30 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Riverside Unit | MISSION HILLS CC RANM |
| 3 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | ISLAND DR RANM |
| 3 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge | LOCAL |
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 Thousand Palms: 8 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-1 Thousand Palms Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Hicks-Allred Indio Hills Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rio Del Sol Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Southwest Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Thousand Palms Community Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Thousand Palms Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Yeager Indio Hills Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thousand Palms in 10 storm reports between 2005 and 2025: 6 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2005 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | $150,000 | A flash flood tore through the Tri-Palms Estates in Thousand Palms and left a great deal of debris behind. Residents could hear boulders tumbling along in the torrent as the water rushed along San Miguelito Drive and Ramon Road. One man had to be rescued from his vehicle after it stalled in the flood waters. |
| September 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Thousand Palms | $10,000 | Downburst winds from a thunderstorm toppled several trees at the Children's Discovery Museum in Rancho Mirage, CA, the irrigation system was also damaged. |
| July 2021 | Flood | Thousand Palms | $1,000 | Desert Sun photo of mud and water covering Vista del Sol and Ramon Road in Thousand Palms. This area received heavy rain 3 to 6 am. Nearby Cathedral City site reported 0.52 inches in 1 hour. |
| August 2025 | Flood | Thousand Palms | - | Report of roadway flooding on I-10 just west of Bob Hope Drive. |
| August 2023 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | - | A roughly 30-mile stretch of I-10 between Bob Hope Drive and Indian Canyon Drive was closed due to inundation by mud, debris, and flooding. Flooding covered Gene Autry Road in Palm Springs. |
| October 2018 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | - | CalTrans reported road flooded at Monterey Ave and Ramon Road in Thousand Palms. Vehicles were unable to get through. |
| October 2018 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | - | CalTrans reported Dillion Road at East Deception Road flooded out around 0030 PST on October 13th. |
| September 2014 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | - | CHP reported 3 vehicles stuck in water, one of which has water up over the tires. Varner Road and Bob Hope Drive are closed. Two other vehicles stuck in water at Varner Road and Date Palm Drive. CHP reported heavy flooding in the center divide and #1 lane of Interstate 10 westbound. CHP reported 6 vehicles stuck in water on Ramon Road at Chimayo Road, with water covering the tires of at least one of the vehicles. CHP reported a stalled vehicle partially in the roadway and stuck in water on Ramon Road at Thousand Palms Canyon Road. As of 0830 PST, numerous vehicles were getting stuck and blocking Thousand Palms Canyon Road, so the wash was shut down at Frances, just east of Thousand Palms Canyon Road. The ALERT gage at Thousand Palms NE recorded 1.54 inches of rain between 0530-0630 PST. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Thousand Palms | - | At 1129 PST, law enforcement reported 2 and a half feet of mud and water washing across Larsen Lane near the cross-section with Dillon road in Sky Valley. At 1350 PST, an 80-ft swath of dirt and rocks was in the roadway, The dirt was 3 feet thick with most rocks bigger than bowling balls. The road was closed due to it being impassable. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Thousand Palms | - | The Sky Valley mesonet station recorded sustained winds greater than 40 mph from 1030 to 1200 PST. During this time, two gusts of 61 mph were measured between 1030 and 1040 PST. Two gusts of 58 mph were also recorded between 1050 and 1100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edom | 0.9 miles | 33 | |
| Shadow Ridge Creek | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Rimlon | 3.1 miles | 26 | |
| Willis Palms | 3.3 miles | 28 | |
| Caliente Sands | 4.0 miles | 33 | |
| Royal Palms | 4.1 miles | 33 | |
| Hidden Palms | 4.7 miles | 28 | |
| Suntown | 4.7 miles | 33 |
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 Thousand Palms | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1432447 | 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 1656643. 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.












