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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.

Thousand Palms within Riverside County

Then and now

1904 to 1984

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Thousand Palms, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of Thousand Palms, surveyed 1904

Compare 1904 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Thousand 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.

YearPeople Change
20107,715
20207,967+252 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 33 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

362 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined200
Equipment and vehicle use47
Arson/incendiarism39
Smoking23
Misuse of fire by a minor20
Recreation and ceremony17
Debris and open burning10
Natural3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2017Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMONTEREY AV / SAGEWOOD DR
7 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCoachella Valley National Wildlife RefugeLOCAL
5 September 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCoachella Valley National Wildlife RefugeVEH FIRE
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitLEHIGH CT RANM
30 September 2020Arson/incendiarism100 acresRiverside UnitCOUNTRY CLUB DR PDES
30 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresRiverside UnitMISSION HILLS CC RANM
3 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitISLAND DR RANM
3 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCoachella Valley National Wildlife RefugeLOCAL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Riverside County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
A-1 Thousand Palms PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hicks-Allred Indio Hills DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Rio Del Sol PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Southwest PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Thousand Palms Community PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Thousand Palms DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Yeager Indio Hills DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Riverside County

Storms near this place

10 since 2005

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2005Flash FloodThousand Palms$150,000A 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 2017Thunderstorm WindThousand Palms$10,000Downburst winds from a thunderstorm toppled several trees at the Children's Discovery Museum in Rancho Mirage, CA, the irrigation system was also damaged.
July 2021FloodThousand Palms$1,000Desert 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 2025FloodThousand Palms-Report of roadway flooding on I-10 just west of Bob Hope Drive.
August 2023Flash FloodThousand 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 2018Flash FloodThousand Palms-CalTrans reported road flooded at Monterey Ave and Ramon Road in Thousand Palms. Vehicles were unable to get through.
October 2018Flash FloodThousand Palms-CalTrans reported Dillion Road at East Deception Road flooded out around 0030 PST on October 13th.
September 2014Flash FloodThousand 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 2013Flash FloodThousand 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 2013Thunderstorm WindThousand 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.

Every storm recorded in Riverside County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Edom0.9 miles33
Shadow Ridge Creek1.3 miles28
Rimlon3.1 miles26
Willis Palms3.3 miles28
Caliente Sands4.0 miles33
Royal Palms4.1 miles33
Hidden Palms4.7 miles28
Suntown4.7 miles33

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 PalmsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1432447The 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.