Vidal, California
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Needles census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92280. The Survey maps it on the Vidal quadrangle. It stands 627 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1943 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 42 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1943 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 18 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.
- 1943 USGS Vidal quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Vidal quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Vidal quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000, 7 printings
- 1971 USGS Vidal quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Needles quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Parker quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
6 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Vidal between 1993 and 2005, burning about 168 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 90 acres | Colorado River Agency | HOLT |
| 22 August 1993 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Colorado River Agency | RAYS |
| 28 July 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 acres | Riverside Unit | LOCAL 14160 |
| 13 May 1993 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Colorado River Agency | WEST BURNS |
| 17 March 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL 11206 |
| 3 October 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Colorado River District | VIDAL JUNC |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 23 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Vidal: 11 occurrences, 5 prospects, 3 unknowns, 3 past producers. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Clay, Manganese. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawkeye | Gold, Copper, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Lookout Prospects | Gold, Silver, Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Sanborn Claim | Copper, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Manganese Prospect | Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| Vidal Bentonite | Bentonite | Unknown | ||
| Vidal Lime Claim | Copper, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Brown | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| J. W. Wilson Claims | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Alice Mine | Gold, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Cathy Jean Mine | Gold, Copper | Unknown |
Storms near this place
2 since 2016Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vidal in 2 storm reports between 2016 and 2018: 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2018 | Flash Flood | Vidal | $1,000 | Highway 62 was flooded at mile marker 134. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | Vidal | $1,000 | A vehicle was stranded due to flash flooding on Highway 62. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calzona | 5.3 miles | 21 | |
| Vidal Junction | 5.9 miles | 18 | |
| Big River | 8.0 miles | 22 | |
| Earp | 11.5 miles | 22 | |
| Bluewater | 13.2 miles | 22 | |
| Cross Roads | 16.9 miles | 25 | |
| Rice | 18.2 miles | 15 | |
| Freda | 21.2 miles | 14 |
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 Vidal | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3476427 | 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 1661637. 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.







