Record
About Picacho
Picacho is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Colorado River 29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde, at an elevation of 203 feet.
This is a site record: what public sources say about Picacho, gathered in one place. We haven't written a full guide yet, so history, current access and photos are still to come. Treat the status as unknown until a guide confirms it.
Map
Where Picacho is

Historic maps
11 historic USGS maps cover Picacho
Topographic sheets from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain), oldest first. Older sheets often show the camp, mines and roads while the place was alive. The downloads are large map scans; USGS topoView shows them in the browser.
- 1942 Blythe sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1945 Picacho sheet, 1:62,500 · GeoTIFF download
- 1951 Picacho sheet, 1:62,500 · GeoTIFF download
- 1954 Picacho sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1954 Salton Sea sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1955 Salton Sea sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1959 Salton Sea sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1963 Salton Sea sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1964 Picacho sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1965 Salton Sea sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1986 Trigo Mts sheet, 1:100,000 · GeoTIFF download
Directions
Getting there
Before you go
- Many ghost town sites are on private land, active mining claims or tribal land. Check land status and ask permission.
- Roads to old townsites are often unmaintained dirt. Map apps may route over closed or impassable tracks.
- Removing artifacts from public land is illegal under federal and most state laws.
Nearby
Other sites near Picacho
Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our California index.
Sources
Sources
- ghosttowns.com, "Picacho": county, roads, climate, best time to visit, remains.
- Wikipedia, "Picacho, California": coordinates and summary.
- Wikidata Q7190480.
- USGS GNIS 1661216.
- USGS 3D Elevation Program, elevation at the coordinates.
- USGS The National Map and Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain).