Wolf, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Grass Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95949. It lies near Pine Hill. The Survey maps it on the Wolf quadrangle. It stands 1,578 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1888 to 1998The same ground, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 28 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.
- 1888 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1949 USGS Grass Valley quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1949 USGS Wolf quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Wolf quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Yuba City quadrangle1:100000
- 1995 USGS Wolf quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Wolf quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
493 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 493 fires within 5 miles of Wolf between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,310 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 14 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 182 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 |
| Debris and open burning | 104 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 9 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | MCCOURTNEY |
| 9 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | RIDGE |
| 8 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | OAK |
| 8 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | CARRIAGE |
| 8 September 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | JULISA |
| 8 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | BEAR |
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | CAIN |
| 8 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | MACDONALD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 76 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 76 workings within 5 miles of Wolf: 23 occurrences, 23 prospects, 21 past producers, 6 unknowns. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Copper, Manganese, Gold, Chromium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elder Mine | Copper, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Malachite, Pyrite | |
| Half Chrome Mine | Iron, Chromium | Past Producer | 1916 | |
| Iron-Copper | Iron, Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Lime Kiln Ranch | Limestone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| Nevada County Pb-Zn Property | Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Nevada Mining Co. | Copper, Gold, Silver | Prospect | Chalcopyrite, Iron, Malachite | |
| Nickerson Ranch | Copper, Gold | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Pine Hill Mining Co | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | Copper, Gold, Malachite | |
| Unnamed Prospect | Copper, Mercury, Gold | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Unnamed Prospect | Copper, Mercury | Prospect |
Storms near this place
4 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wolf in 4 storm reports between 2012 and 2026: 3 flood, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2018 | Flood | Wolf | $100,000 | Combie road flooded due to overtopping of the adjacent Ragsdale Creek. |
| April 2026 | Flood | Wolf | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding from heavy rain on Highway 49, with vehicles having a difficult time driving through. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Wolf | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding from heavy rain. |
| October 2012 | Tornado (EF1) | Wolf | - | The Lake of the Pines Tornado: Supercells developed behind the cold front along a north-south boundary in the middle of the Central Valley, where both instability and shear were large. The Fire Department reported a tornado touchdown at approximately 4:30pm (PST). The estimated damage path length was approximately 4 miles with wind speeds estimated at 90-100mph. The tornado touched down near highway 49 and Combie Rd and snapped tree trunks of 1 to 3 ft in diameter. Many trees were uprooted and a few power lines were blown over. Some buildings were also badly damaged in the area. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higgins Corner | 2.5 miles | 29 | |
| Dew Drop | 3.4 miles | 29 | |
| Willaura Estates | 3.7 miles | 29 | |
| Cherry Creek Acres | 4.3 miles | 29 | |
| Lake of the Pines | 4.5 miles | 29 | |
| Sierra Knoll Estates | 5.5 miles | 29 | |
| Alta Sierra Estates | 5.8 miles | 29 | |
| Alta Sierra Ranches | 6.8 miles | 29 |
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 Wolf | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q8029771 | 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 252838. 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.












