Riverside County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southern portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The county is named for the city of Riverside, which is its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. Riverside County is included in the Riverside–

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

–

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

. The county is also included in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Combined Statistical Area. Roughly rectangular, Riverside County covers in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, spanning from the greater Los Angeles area to the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

border. Geographically, the western region of the county is

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

with a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, while the central and eastern regions of the county are predominantly

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

or mountainous. Most of

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

is located in the county. The desert resort cities of

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índi ...

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The populat ...

, Indian Wells,

La Quinta La Quinta (a Spanish idiom meaning "the country villa") is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. Located between Indian Wells and Indio, it is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley. The population was ...

Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothills ...

Cathedral City City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the the Crown, monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of city, cities. , there are List of cities in the Un ...

and

Desert Hot Springs Desert Hot Springs is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is located within the Coachella Valley geographic region. The population was 32,512 as of the 2020 census, up from 25,938 at the 2010 census. The city has ...

are located in the

Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley ( ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic promine ...

region of central-eastern Riverside County. Between 2007 and 2011, large numbers of

-area workers moved to the county to take advantage of more affordable housing. Along with neighboring San Bernardino County, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the state prior to the recent changes in the regional economy. In addition, smaller, but significant, numbers of people have been moving into southwest Riverside County from the

San Diego metropolitan area San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

Location

Riverside County is bordered on the north by

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

; on the east by

La Paz County La Paz County () is the 15th county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the second-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Park ...

; on the southeast by

Imperial County Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

; on the southwest by

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

; and on the west by Orange County.

Etymology

When Riverside County was formed in 1893, it was named for the city of Riverside, the county seat. That city, founded in 1870, was so named because of its location near the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

History

Indigenous

The

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the valleys, mountains and deserts of what is now Riverside County are the Serrano, the Payómkawichum, the

Mohave Mojave or Mohave most often refers to: *Mojave Desert *Mojave River *Mohave people *Mojave language *Mohave County, Arizona, a county in the U.S. state of Arizona Mojave or Mohave may also refer to: Places * Fort Mojave Indian Reservation * Mo ...

, the Cupeno, the

Chemehuevi The Chemehuevi ( ) are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute. Today, Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes: * Colorado River Indian Tribes * Cheme ...

, the

Cahuilla The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. ...

, and the

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

. The Aguanga and Temecula Basins,

Elsinore Trough The Elsinore Trough is a graben rift valley in Riverside County, southern California. It is created by the Elsinore Fault Zone. It is located between the Santa Ana Mountains to the west, and the Temescal Mountains of the Perris Block and the Tem ...

and eastern

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riversid ...

are the traditional homelands of the Payómkawichum. The inland valleys in the

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

and

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains ()Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. are a mountain range in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles in southern California i ...

and the desert of the

Salton Sink The Salton Sink is the low point of an endorheic basin, a closed drainage system with no outflows to other bodies of water, in the Colorado Desert sub-region of the Sonoran Desert. The sink falls within the larger Salton Trough and separates ...

are the traditional homelands of the Cahuilla.

Spanish era

The first European settlement in the county was a

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia Mission San Luis Rey de Francia () is a former Spanish mission in San Luis Rey, a neighborhood in Oceanside, California. This Mission lent its name to the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. At its prime, Mission San Luis Rey's structures an ...

estancia or farm at the Luiseño village of Temescal. In 1819, the Mission granted Leandro Serrano permission to occupy the land for the purpose of grazing and farming, and Serrano established

Rancho Temescal Rancho Temescal was a Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County and Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Francisco Lopez and José Arellanes. The word “temescal” is Spanish for "sweat bath" ...

. Serrano was

mayordomo Mayordomo ( 'butler') or Chocolate Mayordomo ( 'chocolate butler') is a brand of Mexican (English: 'table chocolate') produced by the company Chocolate Mayordomo De Oaxaca, S. De R.L. De C.V., and based in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. The company man ...

San Antonio de Pala Asistencia The San Antonio de Pala Asistencia, or the Pala Mission, was founded on June 13, 1816, as an asistencia or "sub-mission" to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, some twenty miles inland upstream from the latter mission on the San Luis Rey River. Pa ...

for the Mission of San Luis Rey.

Mexican era

With the signing of the

Treaty of Cordoba A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

in 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain, but the San Gabriel Mission near what is now

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, continued to expand, and established Rancho San Gorgonio in 1824. The ranch was to be one of the Mission's principal ''rancherias'', and the most distant, and it occupied most of today's

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

area. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833 by the

First Mexican Republic The First Mexican Republic, known also as the First Federal Republic (), existed from 1824 to 1835. It was a Federal republic, federated republic, established by the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Constitution of 1824, the first constitution of ...

, a series of rancho land grants were made throughout the state. In the Riverside County this included;

Rancho Jurupa Rancho Jurupa was a Mexican land grant in California, United States, that is divided by the present-day counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. The land was granted to Juan Bandini by Governor Juan B. Alvarado in 1838. Located along both ba ...

in 1838, El Rincon in 1839,

Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1842 by Governor Pro-tem Manuel Jimeno to José Antonio Estudillo. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a part of San D ...

in 1842,

Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio (also called Rancho San Timoteo and Rancho Yucaipa) was a Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to James (Santiago) Johnson.Ogden Hoffman, ...

in 1843, Ranchos

La Laguna LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

, Pauba,

Temecula Temecula (; , ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a tourist and ...

in 1844, Ranchos Little Temecula, Potreros de San Juan Capistrano in 1845, Ranchos San Jacinto Sobrante, La Sierra (Sepulveda), La Sierra (Yorba),

and San Jacinto Nuevo y Potrero in 1846. New Mexican colonists founded the town of La Placita on the east side of the

at the northern extremity of what is now the city of Riverside in 1843.

American era

When the initial 27 California counties were established in 1850, the area today known as Riverside County was divided between

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

and

. In 1853, the eastern part of Los Angeles County was used to create

. Between 1891 and 1893, several proposals and legislative attempts were put forth to form new counties in Southern California. These proposals included one for a Pomona County and one for a San Jacinto County. None of the proposals were adopted until a measure to create Riverside County was signed by Governor Henry H. Markham on March 11, 1893.Fitch, pages v–viii.

County formation

The new county was created from parts of

and

. On May 2, 1893, seventy percent of voters approved the formation of Riverside County. Voters chose the city of Riverside as the county seat, also by a large margin. Riverside County was officially formed on May 9, 1893, when the Board of Commissioners filed the final canvass of the votes. Riverside county was a major focal point of the Civil Rights Movements in the US, especially the African-American sections of Riverside and heavily Mexican-American communities of the Coachella Valley visited by

Cesar Chavez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

of the farm labor union struggle. Riverside county has also been a focus of modern Native American

Gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

enterprises. In the early 1980s, the county government attempted to shut down small bingo halls operated by the

Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe in California, United States. The main tribal groups are Cahuilla and Serrano. Tribal members also include Cupeño, Luiseño, and Chemehuevi Indians. Although many tribes in Ca ...

and the

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians The Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120 They were formerly known as the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Reservation The Cabazon Indian Res ...

. The tribes joined forces and fought the county all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in the tribes' favor on February 25, 1987. In turn, Congress enacted the

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (, ''et seq.'') is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the ...

in 1988 to establish a legal framework for the relationship between Indian gaming and state governments. Naturally, both tribes now operate large casinos in the county: the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa and the

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Fantasy Springs Resort Casino is a casino and hotel located southeast of Palm Springs near I-10 in Indio, California. It is owned and operated by the Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized tribe. The hotel has 250 rooms and ...

adjacent to

Spotlight 29 Casino Spotlight 29 Casino is an Indian casino in Coachella, California, owned and operated by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California. The casino is 250,000 square feet, with 1,600 slot machines and 22 table games. Amenities inc ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in California by area. At roughly wide in the east–west dimension, the area of the county is massive. Riverside County, California is roughly the size of the State of New Jersey in total area. County government documents frequently cite the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

town of

Blythe The name Blythe ( or ) derives from Old English ''bliþe'' ("joyous, kind, cheerful, pleasant"; modern ''blithe''), and further back from Proto-Germanic ''*blithiz'' ("gentle, kind"). People *Blythe (given name), including a list of people named ...

as being a "three-hour drive" from the county seat, Riverside. Some view the areas west of San Gorgonio Pass as the Inland Empire portion of the county and the eastern part as either the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

Colorado Desert The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...

portion. There are probably at least three geomorphic provinces: the

western portion, the Santa Rosa Mountains communities such as Reinhardt Canyon, and the desert region. Other possible subdivisions include tribal lands, the Colorado River communities, and the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...

Flora and fauna

There is a diversity of flora and fauna within Riverside County. Vegetative plant associations feature many desert flora, but there are also forested areas within the county. The California endemic

Blue oak ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the b ...

, ''

Quercus douglasii ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the b ...

'' is at the southernmost part of its range in Riverside County.

National protected areas

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...

(part) *

Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area in Riverside County, California's Coachella Valley. It lies within the unincorporated community of Thousand Palms, just north of Palm Desert. The refuge contains the majority of c ...

* Dos Palmas Preserve *

(part) *

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernar ...

(part) * Sand to Snow National Monument (part) *

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, national monument in Southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa Mountains (California), Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, San Jacinto mo ...

There are 19 official

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

s in Riverside County that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally ...

. Some are integral parts of the above protected areas, most (11 of the 19) are managed solely by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

, and some share management between the BLM and the relevant other agencies. Some extend into neighboring counties: *

Agua Tibia Wilderness Agua Tibia Wilderness (ATW) is a protected area in Riverside and San Diego counties, in the U.S. state of California. It is mostly within the Palomar Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest. The area was originally protected as the Agu ...

(part) * Beauty Mountain Wilderness * Big Maria Mountains Wilderness * Cahuilla Mountain Wilderness *

Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness The Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California. The mountains are named after t ...

* Joshua Tree Wilderness (part) * Little Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness (part) * Mecca Hills Wilderness * Orocopia Mountains Wilderness * Palen/McCoy Wilderness * Palo Verde Mountains Wilderness (part) * Pinto Mountains Wilderness * Rice Valley Wilderness * Riverside Mountains Wilderness * San Gorgonio Wilderness (part) *

San Jacinto Wilderness The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernar ...

* San Mateo Canyon Wilderness (part) *

Santa Rosa Wilderness The Santa Rosa Wilderness is a wilderness area in Southern California, in the Santa Rosa Mountains of Riverside and San Diego counties, California. It is in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert, above the Coachella Valley and Lo ...

* South Fork San Jacinto Wilderness

State parks

California Citrus State Historic Park California Citrus State Historic Park is an open-air museum in the city of Riverside, California, United States. As part of the state park system of California, it interprets the historic cultural landscape of the citrus production, citrus indu ...

Lake Perris Lake Perris is an artificial lake completed in 1973. It is the southern terminus of the California State Water Project, situated in a mountain-rimmed valley between Moreno Valley and Perris, in what is now the Lake Perris State Recreation Are ...

State Recreation Area *

Mount San Jacinto State Park Mount San Jacinto State Park is in the San Jacinto Mountains, of the Peninsular Ranges system, in Riverside County, California, United States. A majority of the park is within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The park ...

County parks and trails

* Hurkey Creek Park * Idyllwild Park * Indio Hills Palms * Jensen Alvarado Ranch * Lake Cahuilla Recreation Area *

Lake Skinner Skinner Reservoir, also known as Lake Skinner, is a reservoir in western Riverside County, California, located at the foot of Bachelor Mountain in the Auld Valley, approximately northeast of Temecula. It was created in 1973 by the construction ...

Recreation Area * McCall Memorial Equestrian Park *

Santa Rosa Plateau The Santa Rosa Plateau is an upland plateau and southeastern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains in Riverside County, California. It is bounded by the rapidly urbanizing Inland Empire, California, Inland Empire cities of Murrieta, California, ...

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Riverside County had a population of 2,189,641. The racial makeup of Riverside County was 1,335,147 (61.0%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(40.7% Non-Hispanic White), 140,543 (6.4%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 23,710 (1.1%) Native American, 130,468 (6.0%) Asian (2.3% Filipino, 0.8% Chinese, 0.7% Vietnamese, 0.6% Korean, 0.5% Indian, 0.2% Japanese, 0.1% Cambodian, 0.1% Laotian, 0.1% Pakistani), 6,874 (0.3%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 448,235 (20.5%) from other races, and 104,664 (4.8%) from two or more races. There were 995,257 residents of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino ancestry, of any race (45.5%); 39.5% of Riverside County was of Mexican origin, 0.8% Salvadoran, 0.7% Honduran, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.3% Cuban, and 0.2% Nicaraguan descent.

2000

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,545,387 people, 506,218 households, and 372,576 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 584,674 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 65.6%

, 6.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 1.2% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.3%

, 18.7% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. 36.2% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 9.2% were of German, 6.9% English, 6.1% Irish and 5.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 67.2% spoke English and 27.7% Spanish as their first language. In 2006 the county had a population of 2,026,803, up 31.2% since 2000. In 2005 45.8% of the population was non-Hispanic whites. The percentages of African Americans, Asians and Native Americans remained relatively similar to their 2000 figures. The percentage of Pacific Islanders had majorly risen to 0.4. Hispanics now constituted 41% of the population. There were 506,218 households, out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.0 and the average family size was 3.5. In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,887, and the median income for a family was $48,409. Males had a median income of $38,639 versus $28,032 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $18,689. About 10.7% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government and law enforcement

Government

Riverside County is organized as a General Law County under the provision of the California Government Code. The county has five supervisorial districts, and one supervisor is elected from each district every four years. In 1999, the County Board of Supervisors approved a multimillion-dollar planning effort to create the Riverside County Integrated Plan (RCIP) which was to encompass a completely new General Plan, regional transportation plan (CETAP) and Habitat Conservation Plan. The resultant General Plan adopted in 2003 was considered groundbreaking for its multidisciplinary approach to land use and conservation planning.

Courts

The Riverside Superior Court is the state

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

for Riverside County with 14

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

s: Riverside Historic Courthouse, Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside Family Law Court, Riverside Juvenile Court, Southwest Justice Center – Murrieta, Moreno Valley Court, Banning Court, Hemet Court, Corona Court, Temecula Court, Larson Justice Center – Indio, Indio Juvenile Court, Palm Springs Court and Blythe Court. The main courthouse is the Riverside Historic Courthouse. This landmark, erected in 1903, was modeled after the

Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

and

Petit Palais The (; ) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The courthouse, designed by Los Angeles architects Burnham and Bliesner, has a classical design – including a great hall that connects all the departments (

courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...

s). In 1994, the courthouse was closed for seismic retrofits due to the 1992 Landers and

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...

s. The courthouse was reopened and rededicated in September 1998. Riverside County hands down 1 in 6 death sentences in the US, in spite of it having less than 1% of the population.

Law enforcement

Sheriff

The Riverside County Sheriff provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner services for all of Riverside County. It provides patrol, detective, and other police services for the unincorporated areas of the county plus by contract to the cities and towns of Coachella, Eastvale, Indian Wells, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Norco, Palm Desert, Perris, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, Temecula and Wildomar. The Morongo Indian Reservation also contracts with the Sheriff's Office to provide police services to the reservation.

Municipal Police

Municipal departments within the county are Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Calimesa, Cathedral City, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Hemet, Indio, Menifee, Murrieta,

, Riverside,

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

and University California Riverside Riverside County Probation Department https://rivcoprobation.org/

Politics

Voter registration

Overview

Prior to 2008, Riverside County was a Republican stronghold in

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

and

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

elections. Between its creation in 1893 and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, it voted for the Democratic presidential nominee only three times:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

(by a margin of 337 votes, or 0.99%),

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

(by a margin of 19,363 votes, or 13.65%), and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(by a margin of 6,784 votes, or 1.58%). In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, it was one of only two counties in the entire West Coast to vote for Republican president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

over Roosevelt during the latter's landslide victory. In 2024, it was one of ten counties that flipped for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

after voting for

Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and was one of six that voted for the Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 20 years since

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. At the state level, Riverside remains one of the most conservative counties in Southern California and is frequently the only county in the region to not vote for Democratic candidates, having not voted for a Democrat for governor since 1998 (and having only voted three times for Democrats in the past century). At the local level, Democrats are strongest in Riverside County in large cities such as Riverside, Perris, and Moreno Valley, performing especially well in majority Black and Hispanic areas, although those have been shifting heavily to the right. Democrats are also strongest in progressive-leaning White areas and college campuses such as Downtown Riverside, the area surrounding

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in ...

, the LGBT enclave of

and most of the Hispanic-majority

. Republicans perform especially well in the wealthy San Diegan exurbs in the

Temecula Valley The Temecula Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Temecula'') is a graben rift valley in western Riverside County, California. The Temecula Valley is one of the graben valleys making up the Elsinore Trough, created by the Elsinore Fau ...

as well as more middle-class white cities such as

Lake Elsinore Lake Elsinore is a natural freshwater lake in Riverside County, California, United States, located east of the Santa Ana Mountains and fed by the San Jacinto River. Originally named ''Laguna Grande'' by Spanish explorers, it was renamed for t ...

Wildomar Wildomar is a city in southwest Riverside County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on July 1, 2008. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,875. The community has grown quickly during the early 21st century; the populatio ...

, and Menifee. Republicans are also usually more successful in the rural areas of the county as well as wealthy retirement enclaves such as Canyon Lake and Bermuda Dunes. Republicans have been consistently gaining in almost all areas of the county, however, and in 2024 put up massive gains in both affluent suburbs and blue-collar majority Hispanic areas, even flipping the city of Jurupa Valley, the most Hispanic city in Riverside County. In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Riverside County is split between 6 congressional districts: * * * * * and * . In the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

, the county is split between four legislative districts: * , * , * , and * . In the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, the county is split between six legislative districts: * , * , * , * , * , and * . Riverside County voted 64.8% in favor of

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned by the ...

which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Only the city of

voted against the measure.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Education

Universities and colleges

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

– Murrieta
Brandman University
, part of the

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

System – Moreno Valley, Palm Desert, Riverside and Temecula *

California Baptist University California Baptist University (Cal Baptist or CBU) is a private Baptist Christian university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1950 as California Baptist College, it is affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention, an organiz ...

– Riverside * California Southern Law School – Riverside *

California State University, San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is part of the California State University system. The main campus sits on in th ...

, Palm Desert Campus – Palm Desert *

California State University, San Marcos California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM or Cal State San Marcos) is a public university in San Marcos, California, United States. It was founded in 1989 as the 21st campus in the California State University (CSU) system. CSUSM offers 43 ...

, Temecula Satellite Campus – Temecula *

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is feder ...

– Palm Desert and Indio *

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a Private university, private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was ...

– Riverside *

Mayfield College Mayfield College is a defunct Roman Catholic boys' boarding school founded as the Holy Trinity Orphanage For Boys in 1865–1866 by the American-born Dowager Duchess of Leeds, Louisa Catherine Caton, one mile from Mayfield, East Sussex. The ma ...

– Cathedral City * Mt. San Jacinto College – Banning, Menifee, San Jacinto, Temecula *

Olivet University Olivet University is a private Christian university in Anza, California. It was founded by David Jang in 2000 and is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education to award certificates, bachelor's, master's, D. Min., and Ph. ...

– Anza * Palo Verde College – Blythe * Riverside Community College District **

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

** Moreno Valley College **

Norco College Norco College is a Public college, public community college in Norco, California. Norco College is part of the Riverside Community College District, Riverside Community College District (RCCD), which is part of the larger California Community Co ...

* Santa Barbara Business College – Palm Desert *

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

– Palm Desert and Riverside *

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

– Murrieta and Palm Desert

K-12 schools

; Public school districts K-12 unified: * Alvord Unified School District *

Banning Unified School District Banning Unified School District is located in the central part of Riverside County in California. The district services the vast majority of the city of Banning, California (aside from a small residential neighborhood in the northwest of the ci ...

Beaumont Unified School District Beaumont Unified School District is located in central Riverside County, California. The district services the vast majority of Beaumont, California, as well as portions of Banning, and most of Calimesa and the census-designated place of Cher ...

Coachella Valley Unified School District The Coachella Valley Unified School District is a public school district in Riverside County, California and Imperial County, California, United States, with headquarters in Thermal. The District serves a area, including the cities of Coachella ...

* Colton Joint Unified School District *

Corona-Norco Unified School District The Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) is a school district in Riverside County, California, in the United States, serving the cities of Corona, California, Corona, Norco, California, Norco, and Eastvale, California, Eastvale, along ...

* Desert Center Unified School District * Desert Sands Unified School District *

Hemet Unified School District Hemet Unified School District is a school district in Hemet, California which covers; Hemet, East Hemet, Valle Vista, Anza, Winchester, and Idyllwild . Christi Barrett is the district's Superintendent, having succeeded Dr. Barry L. Kayrell, ...

Jurupa Unified School District Jurupa Unified School District is a grade K-12 school district in Riverside County, California. It has an enrollment of approximately 20,500 students. The geographic location of the Jurupa Valley area is the upper western corner of Riverside Co ...

Lake Elsinore Unified School District Lake Elsinore Unified School District is a public school district located in Lake Elsinore, California, USA. It was formed on July 1, 1989, when the Elsinore Union High School District merged with the Lake Elsinore School District (elementary). ...

Moreno Valley Unified School District Moreno Valley Unified School District is the third-largest district in Riverside County, the 23rd largest in California, educating more than 34,000 students in grades TK-12 at 40 schools. It is the fourth-largest employer in Moreno Valley. The ...

Murrieta Valley Unified School District The Murrieta Valley Unified School District is the public school system in the city of Murrieta, California. It is the third largest public school district in Riverside County. High schools *Murrieta Mesa High School *Murrieta Valley High Scho ...

Palm Springs Unified School District The Palm Springs Unified School District, or PSUSD, is one of three public education governing bodies in the Coachella Valley desert region of Southern California. PSUSD governs the western half of the valley; the Coachella Valley Unified School ...

Palo Verde Unified School District Palo Verde Unified School District is a public school district in Riverside County, California, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North ...

* Riverside Unified School District *

San Jacinto Unified School District San Jacinto Unified School District is a public school district located in the central part of Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U. ...

Temecula Valley Unified School District Temecula Valley Unified School District is a school district located in the southwestern portion of Riverside County, California, serving the city of Temecula and unincorporated parts of nearby Murrieta and French Valley. It is the fourth-larg ...

Val Verde Unified School District The Val Verde Unified School District is one of two public education governing bodies in Moreno Valley, California which stretches into Perris, California. It currently operates 21 schools and is the neighbor to its larger counterpart, the Mor ...

* Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District Secondary: *

Perris Union High School District The Perris Union High School District is a school district serving Menifee, California, Menifee and Perris, California. It is the only high school-only district in Riverside County, California, Riverside County. The Perris Union High School Dis ...

Elementary: *

Menifee Union School District Menifee Union School District is a school district located in the city of Menifee, California, serving grades pre-8. The district plans on adding at least two more schools in addition to the ones listed below. The district includes most of Men ...

Nuview Union Elementary School District Nuview Union School District is a public school district in Riverside County, California, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North Americ ...

Perris Elementary School District The Perris Elementary School District is the organization responsible for the administration of public elementary schools (K-6) in the city of Perris, California in the United States. The district currently administers eight elementary schools. ...

Romoland Elementary School District Romoland School District is a TK–8 public school district based in Riverside County, California, United States serving over 4,500 students. The district territory includes Romoland, Homeland, and portions of Green Acres, Nuevo, Perris, an ...

; State-operated schools *

California School for the Deaf, Riverside The California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSD-R or CSDR) is a school for deaf children located in Riverside, California. The school educates children from all over Southern California. Its companion school in Northern California is California ...

;

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

-operated schools: *

Sherman Indian High School Sherman Indian High School (SIHS) is an off-reservation boarding high school for Native Americans. Originally opened in 1892 as the Perris Indian School, in Perris, California, the school was relocated to Riverside, California, in 1903, under th ...

Transportation

Major highways

Public transportation

Riverside Transit Agency The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) is the main transit agency for western Riverside County, California, United States. RTA provides both local and regional services throughout the region with 32 fixed-routes ,3 CommuterLink routes, Micro Transit ...

serves the western third of Riverside County, as far east as Banning. *

SunLine Transit Agency SunLine Transit Agency is a transit operator in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, providing bus service to more than 3.5 million passengers per year in the Palm Springs Area. Service extends into San B ...

serves

and the Coachella Valley area. * RidePV (formerly Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency) provides service in Blythe, near the

border. * Pass Transit serves the San Gorgonio Pass communities. * Corona Cruiser serves the city of Corona. * Riverside County is also served by

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

buses.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

trains stop in and , and

Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak regional rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...

provides bus connections to the ''

San Joaquins The ''San Joaquins'' is a state-supported passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of 2025, the service operates seven daily round trips between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton. Of the ...

'' in , Beaumont,

Thousand Palms Thousand Palms is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 7,967 at the 2020 census, up from 7,715 at the 2010 census. Geography Thousand Palms is located at . It ...

, Moreno Valley,

Perris Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located east-southeast of Los Angeles and north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, skydiving, the Southern California Railway Museum, and its sunny dry cli ...

, Sun City, and

Hemet Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California, United States. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 ...

. Metrolink trains serve nine stations in Riverside County: , , , , , , , , and . These trains provide service to Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties seven days a week, with a primarily commuter-oriented schedule.

Airports

Military air bases

March Air Reserve Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, California, Riverside, Moreno Valley, California, Moreno Valley, and Perri ...

(former

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Comm ...

)

Commercial airports

Palm Springs International Airport Palm Springs International Airport , formerly Palm Springs Municipal Airport, is an airport two miles east of downtown Palm Springs, California, United States. The airport covers 940 acres and has two runways. The facility operates year-round, ...

General aviation airports

Banning Municipal Airport Banning Municipal Airport is a city-owned airport a mile southeast of Banning, in Riverside County, California. Facilities The airport covers at an elevation of 2,222 feet (677 m). Its one runway, 8/26, is 4,955 by 100 feet (1,510 x 30 m) ...

* Bermuda Dunes Airport *

Blythe Airport Blythe Airport is seven miles west of Blythe, in Riverside County, California, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. History Blythe Airport was esta ...

Corona Municipal Airport Corona Municipal Airport , formerly L66, is three miles northwest of Downtown Corona, serving Riverside County, California, United States. The airport has a few businesses, such as a cafe, "Flying Academy" flight training center, and aircraft ma ...

* Flabob Airport, Riverside * French Valley Airport (Temecula Valley) * Hemet-Ryan Airport (San Jacinto Valley) * Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport, Thermal (Coachella Valley) * Perris Valley Airport *

Riverside Municipal Airport Riverside Municipal Airport (Riverside Arlington Airport, decades ago) , is four miles (6 km) southwest of downtown Riverside, the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. Scheduled flights to Laughlin/Bullhead Interna ...

Military installations

* Active **

Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range The Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (CMAGR) is a bombing range operated by the United States Marine Corps, located in Southern California. Range description The range is a

Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is a United States Navy weapons and munitions loading, storage, and maintenance facility located in Seal Beach, California, with detachments in Fallbrook, California, Fallbrook and Norco, California, Norco, both a ...

Detachment Norco ***

Naval Surface Warfare Center The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United Sta ...

, Corona Division * Historical **

Desert Training Center The Desert Training Center (DTC), also known as California–Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), was a World War II training facility established in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, largely in Southern California and Western Arizona in 1942. It ...

***

Blythe Army Airfield Blythe Airport is seven miles west of Blythe, California, Blythe, in Riverside County, California, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 FAA airport categories, categorized it as a ''general aviation'' ...

***

Desert Center Army Airfield Desert Center Airport is a private-use airport located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) northeast of the central business district of Desert Center, in Riverside County, California, United States. The airport is located at t ...

*** Palm Springs Army Airfield ***

Rice Army Airfield Rice Army Air Field (also known as Rice Air Base or Rice AAF) is an abandoned World War II airfield in Rice Valley of the southern Mojave Desert, located east-southeast of the community of Rice. The airfield is located in Riverside County jus ...

*** Shaver's Summit Army Airfield *** Thermal Army Airfield (Also named Naval Air Facility Thermal (historical)) ** Hemet Army Airfield

Points of interest

Castle Park (amusement park) Castle Park, formerly Castle Amusement Park, is a 25-acre amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement par ...

* The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture *

Empire Polo Club The Empire Polo Club is a 1,000-acre event venue in Indio, California, located in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It was founded i ...

, location of the

and

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

music festivals *

Gold Base Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base or Int) is the ''de facto'' international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about from Los Angeles. The h ...

, international headquarters of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

and

Golden Era Productions Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base or Int) is the ''de facto'' international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about from Los Angeles. The ...

Indian Wells Tennis Garden The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is a tennis facility in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs, California, in the Coachella Valley. The 16,100-capacity Stadium 1 is the largest stadium at the tennis complex, and the second largest outdoor tennis stadi ...

* Living Desert Zoo and Gardens *

March Field Air Museum The March Field Air Museum is an aviation museum near Moreno Valley, California, Moreno Valley and Riverside, California, located at March Air Reserve Base. History The museum was founded in 1979 as March Air Force Base Museum. One of the first e ...

* Mission Inn Hotel & Spa *

Orange Empire Railway Museum The Southern California Railway Museum (SCRM, reporting mark OERX), formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum, is a railroad museum in Perris, California, United States. It was founded in 1956 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles before movi ...

* Orocopia Mountains Wilderness *

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California, is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak and w ...

and

Palm Springs Desert Museum The Palm Springs Art Museum (formerly the Palm Springs Desert Museum) is a visual and performing arts institution with several locations in the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California, United States, founded in 1938. PSAM has been focu ...

* Ramona Bowl, Home of ''

The Ramona Pageant ''The Ramona Outdoor Play'', formerly known as (and still commonly called) ''The Ramona Pageant'', is an outdoor drama staged annually in Hemet, California, since 1923. It is loosely based on the 1884 novel '' Ramona'' by Helen Hunt Jackson. H ...

'' *

Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...

* Riverside County fair grounds, location of the

Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival The Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival takes place in Indio, California. Since 1947 the annual festival has been held to celebrate the Date Palm harvest in the Coachella Valley. The event is held in February on the Riverside County F ...

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers . It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the n ...

, including the Medal of Honor Memorial * Salton Sea State Recreation Area *

Sunnylands Sunnylands is the former Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage, California. The property is currently run by The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, a not-for-profit organization. The property was owned by Walter Annenberg, Walter and Leon ...

Center & Gardens *

Temecula Valley AVA Temecula Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the Temecula Valley, located in southwestern Riverside County, California against the eastern slopes of the Santa Ana Mountains. It was initially established by the Bureau of Alcohol, ...

Wine Region *

Western Science Center The Western Science Center (WSC), formerly the Western Center for Archaeology & Paleontology, is a museum located near Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, California. The WSC is home to a large collection of Native American artifacts and Ice Age fossi ...

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

* Aguanga *

Alberhill Alberhill (formerly, Alberhil) is an unincorporated community in Riverside County, California. Alberhill is located northwest of Lake Elsinore. It lies at an elevation of 1234 feet (376 m). Alberhill was named after C.H. Albers and James and G ...

* Alessandro * Anza * Arnold Heights * Bermuda Dunes * Bonnie Bell * Box Springs * Cabazon *

* Cahuilla Hills * Cherry Valley * Chiriaco Summit * Coronita * Desert Beach * Desert Center * Desert Edge * Desert Palms *

East Hemet East Hemet is a census-designated place (CDP) in Riverside County, California, United States, located east of Hemet. East Hemet is in an unincorporated area outside the city limits of Hemet. The population was 19,432 at the 2020 census, up from 1 ...

* Edgemont * El Cariso * El Cerrito * El Sobrante * Fern Valley * French Valley *

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

* Gilman Hot Springs * Good Hope *

Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first br ...

* Highgrove * Home Gardens *

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

* Idyllwild *

Indio Hills The Indio Hills are a low mountain range in the Colorado Desert. located in Riverside County, California's Coachella Valley. The hills were named for their proximity to the city of Indio, and are sometimes referred to as the Indio Mud Hills or Ind ...

* La Cresta *

Lake Mathews Lake Mathews is a large reservoir in Riverside County, California, located in the Cajalco Canyon in the foothills of the Temescal Mountains. It is the western terminus for the Colorado River Aqueduct that provides much of the water used by the c ...

* Lake Riverside * Lake Tamarisk * Lakeland Village * Lakeview *

March ARB March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Comm ...

* Mead Valley * Meadowbrook *

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Mesa Verde Mesa Verde National Park is a national park of the United States and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, and the only World Heritage Site in Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Pueblo ...

* Mountain Center * North Palm Springs * North Shore * Nuevo *

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentPine Cove * Pinyon Pines * Radec * Rancho Capistrano * Ripley * Romoland * Sage * Sky Valley * Snow Creek * Temescal Valley *

Thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

* Thomas Mountain *

* Valle Vista * Vista Santa Rosa *

Warm Springs Warm Springs may refer to: *Warm Springs Apache, a subdivision of the Chiricahua Apache *Warm Springs, California, in Riverside County *Warm Springs, Fremont, California **Warm Springs Elementary School, elementary school in Fremont, California **W ...

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

* Woodcrest

Former census designated places

* Crestmore Heights, annexed to Jurupa Valley

Ghost towns

* Dos Palmas * Eagle Mountain * Fertilla *

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

* La Placita *

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

* Midland * Pinacate * Saahatpa * Temescal *

Terra Cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

* Willow Springs Station

Indian reservations

Riverside County has 12 federally recognized

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

s, which ties it with

Sandoval County, New Mexico Sandoval County () is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 148,834, making it the fourth-most populous county in New Mexico. The county seat is Bernalillo. Sandoval County is part of the ...

, for second most of any county in the United States. (Sandoval County, however, has two additional joint-use areas, shared between reservations.

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

has the most, with 18 reservations.) *

Agua Caliente Indian Reservation The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla, located in Riverside County, California, United States.Augustine Indian Reservation * Cabazon Indian Reservation * Cahuilla Indian Reservation *

Colorado River Indian Reservation The Colorado River Indian Tribes (, ) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the Colorado River Indian Reservation: the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. The tribe has about 4,277 enrolle ...

(partly in

La Paz County, Arizona La Paz County () is the 15th County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the List of counties ...

and

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

) * Morongo Indian Reservation *

Pechanga Indian Reservation The Pechanga Band of Indians, also known as ''Payómkawichum'' (the People of the West), stand as 1 of 6 federally recognized tribes of Luiseño Indians, currently located in Riverside County, California. The modern understanding of the tribe, P ...

* Ramona Village * Santa Rosa Indian Reservation * Soboba Band of Mission Indians * Torres-Martinez Indian Reservation (partly in

Imperial County, California Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

) * Twenty-Nine Palms Indian Reservation (partly in San Bernardino County, California)

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Riverside County. † ''county seat''

Climate

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Fitch, Robert J. (1993). ''Profile of a Century: Riverside County, California, 1893–1993''. Riverside County Historical Commission Press. pp. 300. * Gunther, Jane Davies. ''Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories'', Riverside, CA, 1984. * * ** (a reprint of the first three chapters of ''Along the Old Roads''.)

External links

* {{Authority control California counties Inland Empire Greater Los Angeles Counties in Southern California 1893 establishments in California Populated places established in 1893 Majority-minority counties in California