Cima ( Spanish for "Summit") is a small unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, in the United States. It lies in a mountain pass on the divide between the

Ivanpah Valley The Ivanpah Valley is in southeastern California and southern Nevada in the United States. The valley is between the New York Mountains and the Ivanpah Mountains in San Bernardino County on the California side, and in Clark County on the Nevada ...

and the Mojave River basin, at an elevation of . The

Ivanpah Mountains The Ivanpah Mountains are located in the southeastern Mojave Desert of California in the United States. The range lies to the south and east of the Mescal Range and Clark Mountain Range. Paute Valley lies between the Ivanpahs and the Mescal Range ...

and Interstate 15 are to the north, the New York Mountains are to the east, and the Providence Mountains are to the south. To the northwest is the Cima volcanic field, which contains Cima Dome at above sea level, a prominent landmark along I-15. Cima is also home to one of the densest Yucca brevifolia forests in California, located in the Cima Dome.

History

Herbert Graham Gibson established the first store at Cima in 1900. In 1905 the first post office opened in the store. Gibson refused to pump the gas for his customers and therefore may have created the first self-service station in the country. The site served as both a railroad siding and a commercial center for ranchers and miners. Few people now live in the area. In fact, like the neighboring town of Kelso to the southwest, Cima is now usually considered a ghost town. Nevertheless, both towns still see considerable activity on the Union Pacific rail line that brought the towns into being. Between Kelso and Cima lies the Cima Grade, the steepest part of the line between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas. The tracks rise in . Both sites also lie within the Mojave National Preserve, with the attendant tourist activity.

Climate

For Cima, the average high temperature in July is , with an average low of . January averages are and . The highest temperature on record is in 1967, and the lowest is , recorded in 1972. Cima receives less than of rain in an average year. Cima does have a post office, with the ZIP code 92323 and the area code 760. The 92323 ZIP Code Tabulation Area had a population of 21 at the 2000 census.

References

* * National Park Service

{{authority control Mojave National Preserve Ivanpah Valley Unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County, California Populated places in the Mojave Desert Ghost towns in California Unincorporated communities in California