Horseshoe Bend, Idaho
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Horseshoe Bend census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83629. It stands on Shafer Creek. The Survey maps it on the Horseshoe Bend quadrangle. 715 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,631 feet above sea level.
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Population over time
2 figuresHorseshoe Bend grew from 707 to 715 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 | 707 | |
| 2020 | 715 | +8 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 15 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.
- 1892 USGS Boise quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Boise quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Horseshoe Bend quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Boise quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Boise quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Horseshoe Bend quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
31 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Horseshoe Bend between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,325 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 1 was 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 | 10 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 acres | Boise District | SHAFERCREE |
| 6 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Department of Lands | MEADOW CREEK |
| 5 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 18 acres | Boise District | HARRIS CREEK |
| 18 September 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7.2 acres | Idaho Department of Lands | SWS 015 MM65 HWY55 |
| 5 August 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Idaho Department of Lands | GARDENA |
| 26 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Boise District | RA10 BOISE CO |
| 26 August 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Idaho Department of Lands | TRANSFORMER |
| 23 August 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Southwest Supervisory Area Office | RIVER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 38 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 38 workings within 5 miles of Horseshoe Bend: 15 occurrences, 12 unknowns, 8 past producers, 2 prospects. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Antimony, Gold, Antimony. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballentyne Creek Prospect | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Prospect | ||
| Black Crook Prospect | Zinc, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | Sphalerite | |
| Claggett Prospect | Antimony, Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Gem State Consolidated Mines | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Hall's Claim | Gold, Silver, Antimony | Past Producer | ||
| Henry Mine | Coal, Lignite | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Kentuck | Silver, Lead, Gold, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Kentuck Mine | Lead, Zinc | Occurrence | Galena, Sphalerite | |
| Lucky Boy Prospect | Gold, Silver, Zinc | Occurrence | Galena, Sphalerite | |
| Mint Claim | Gold, Zinc | Occurrence | Sphalerite |
Storms near this place
13 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Horseshoe Bend in 13 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 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 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Horseshoe Bend | - | Wind damage cut off power to 3790 people in the Horseshoe Bend, Crouch, and Placerville area as winds along a gust front moved through. Damage estimated to be 60 mph based on power pole damage. |
| June 2022 | Flood | Horseshoe Bend | - | There was evidence of flooding near Cartwright Street north of Hidden Springs. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Horseshoe Bend | - | A 70 MPH thunderstorm wind gust was reported by the public. |
| September 2013 | Hail | Horseshoe Bend | - | A spotter near Horseshoe Bend reported large hail up to one inch and winds up to 60 MPH. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Horseshoe Bend | - | A National Weather Service employee reported road flooding on Porter Creek Road north of Horseshoe Bend. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Horseshoe Bend | - | The CWOP near Horseshoe Bend reported a wind gust of 58 MPH. |
| February 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Horseshoe Bend | - | Wind gusts estimated at 50 knots (58 mph) ripped a deck off of a house and brought down trees and power lines. About 15,000 homes were without power. |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Horseshoe Bend | - | A heavy downpour along Highway 55 just south of Horseshoe Bend caused a hillside to let go and cover a portion of the highway with dirt, mud and debris. |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Horseshoe Bend | - | A flash flood covered Highway 52 with up to 3 feet of water near the Boise/Gem County line. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Horseshoe Bend | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Horseshoe Bend | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Horseshoe Bend | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Hail | Horseshoe Bend | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardena | 4.2 miles | 15 | |
| Brownlee | 7.0 miles | 16 | |
| Howell (historical) | 9.0 miles | 15 | |
| Quartzburg | 11.6 miles | 20 | |
| Banks | 12.1 miles | 16 | |
| Star Ranch Summer Home Area | 12.2 miles | 20 | |
| Granite | 12.3 miles | 20 | |
| Placerville | 13.4 miles | 20 |
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 Horseshoe Bend | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q517389 | 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 396669. 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.







