Topanga Beach, California
38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Agoura Hills-Malibu census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90265. It lies near Topanga Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Topanga quadrangle. It stands 36 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1903 to 1991The same ground, surveyed 88 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1903 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 38 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.
- 1903 USGS Calabasas quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1903 USGS Camulos quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1928 USGS Topanga Canyon quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1944 USGS Calabasas quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Topanga quadrangle1:24000, 8 printings
- 1955 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Topanga quadrangle1:24000
- 1979 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Topanga quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
78 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Topanga Beach between 1992 and 2020, burning about 171 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 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 | 48 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | RAMBLA PACIFICA |
| 8 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.7 acres | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | TOPANGA |
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | TOPANGA 2 |
| 30 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | CALVARY |
| 3 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | TUNA |
| 3 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 29 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 2 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Topanga Beach: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Flagstone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ynez Canyon Quarry | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Santa Ynez Deposits | Limestone, General | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Topanga Beach in 5 storm reports between 2010 and 2025: 4 debris flow, 1 flash 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 2025 | Debris Flow | Topanga Beach | - | A significant debris flow at the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway and Big Rock Drive swept a Los Angeles County firefighters into the ocean. No significant injuries were reported. |
| February 2024 | Debris Flow | Topanga Beach | - | A mudslide was reported along Highway 1 at the intersection with Porto Marina. |
| February 2024 | Debris Flow | Topanga Beach | - | Heavy rainfall generated a mudslide, blocking the westbound land of Highway 1. |
| January 2018 | Debris Flow | Topanga Beach | - | Due to heavy rain, a significant mud and debris flow closed the Pacific Coast Highway around the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Over three feet of mud was reported across the roadway. |
| February 2010 | Flash Flood | Topanga Beach | - | California Highway Patrol reported mud and debris flows near the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castellammare | 1.0 miles | 38 | |
| Inceville | 1.3 miles | 38 | |
| Pacific Palisades | 2.9 miles | 38 | |
| Fernwood | 3.0 miles | 37 | |
| Las Flores | 3.0 miles | 35 | |
| Wildwood | 3.2 miles | 38 | |
| Topanga | 3.9 miles | 37 | |
| Topanga Oaks | 4.3 miles | 39 |
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 Topanga Beach | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q9088418 | 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 250539. 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.












