Dales California Map

About Dales, California

Dales is a locality in Tehama County, California, United States. It is a small community with a population of 28. The population density is 16.8 people per km². Dales is located at 40.3180°N, 122.0538°W. It observes the Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) timezone. ZIP code: 96080.

Dales occupies a rugged expanse where the earth creases into the deep, shaded troughs of De Haven Gulch. It lies 12.7 miles northeast of Red Bluff, CA (from Red Bluff, CA: bearing 43°T), and is situated 8.0 miles east-southeast of Lake California. The landscape here is defined by the persistent, rhythmic cutting of Paynes Creek, which carves its way through a terrain that burns to a brittle, straw-colored gold under the intensity of the summer sun. Forty-eight miles to the east, the jagged, snow-dusted silhouette of the Cascade Range looms against the horizon, a distant sentinel watching over the undulating oak savanna. Just a mile away, the Dales Lake Ecological Reserve provides a quiet sanctuary where the air grows heavy with the scent of dry grasses and heated basalt, offering a stillness that feels untouched by the frantic pace of the wider world.

Dales emerged from the necessity of navigating this difficult, sun-baked geography, serving as a waypoint for those who recognized the utility of the land’s natural drainage and mineral-rich soil. The economy remains tethered to the rhythms of the earth, characterized by small-scale grazing and the management of open range that has sustained local families for generations. Life in Dales unfolds with an unforced cadence, dictated by the transition of the seasons and the shifting quality of the afternoon light that turns the hills into pools of liquid bronze. There is a distinct, enduring resilience in the way the local architecture hunkers low to the ground, acknowledging the heat and the wind that sweeps down from the heights, ensuring that the legacy of the region remains as solid and unyielding as the rock beneath the surface.

About This Dales Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Dales, California. Coordinates: 40.317989, -122.053844. 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 Dales includes the ZIP code (96080), telephone area code (530), county seat of Tehama County (Red Bluff), and school district assignment (Antelope 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.