Cherokee California Map

About Cherokee, California

Cherokee is a locality in Nevada County, California, United States. It is a small community with a population of 88. The population density is 19.4 people per km². Cherokee is located at 39.6509°N, 121.5336°W. It observes the Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) timezone. ZIP codes: 95959, 95379, 95965.

Cherokee occupies a high, rugged plateau where the earth seems to hold the heat of the afternoon long after the sun has slipped behind the western ridges. It lies 10.5 miles north of Grass Valley, CA (from Grass Valley, CA: bearing 5°T), and is situated 7.6 miles north of Nevada City. Shady Creek carves a quiet, persistent path through the surrounding brush, its presence marked by the silver flash of water against dark stone as it meanders toward the deeper shadows of Studhorse Canyon. The air here carries the scent of dry pine needles and sun-warmed manzanita, a sharp, clean fragrance that intensifies as one nears the boundary of Tahoe National Forest. While the distant Sierra Nevada looms as a jagged, lilac-colored promise on the far horizon, the immediate landscape is defined by the intimate, weathered texture of rocky outcroppings and sparse, resilient timber that has learned to thrive in the thin, mineral-rich soil.

Cherokee maintains a quiet vigilance over the remnants of an era when the pulse of the local economy beat to the rhythm of hydraulic mining and the restless pursuit of gold. Evidence of this past remains in the scarred earth and the scattered stone foundations that seem to emerge from the grass like bones of a forgotten architecture. Today, the pace of life favors a slower, more deliberate observation of the seasons, far removed from the frantic energy of the lowlands. Residents move through their days with a steady, earned independence, often finding their way toward the South Yuba Trail for a solitary walk or casting a line into the quiet, still waters of Morris Reservoir. There is a distinct, understated grace in the way the light settles over the abandoned diggings at dusk, turning the raw, excavated clay into a soft, glowing copper that feels entirely at home in the quietude of the foothills.

About This Cherokee Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cherokee, California. Coordinates: 39.650877, -121.533646. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Cherokee includes the ZIP code (95959, 95379, 95965), telephone area code (408, 669, 530), county seat of Nevada County (Nevada City), and school district assignment (Golden Feather Union Elementary School District).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.