Blog · September 24, 2026 · California
Riverside County, California GIS Parcel Map Guide
Map My County is Riverside County’s free parcel viewer. Use it to find an Inland Empire lot or a desert parcel by APN or address, check lines and acreage, and see fire, fault and flood layers before you look for recorded maps.
Main page: Riverside County, CA GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, Riverside County facts and neighboring maps).
Platbookmapper is an Amazon Associate. If you buy through an Amazon link on this page, we earn a commission. The link is a product, not the county map.
Riverside County reaches from the Inland Empire suburbs all the way east to the Colorado River, taking in Temecula wine country, the Coachella Valley, and wide-open desert. With that much variety, a good parcel map is essential. The county’s Map My County viewer is the official public GIS for finding a parcel and the land-use and hazard layers that go with it.
Map My County
Map My County is Riverside County’s public web map. It lets you search for a parcel, view its boundaries on aerial imagery, and switch on planning and hazard layers such as general plan land use, zoning, and hazard overlays. It is a Geocortex application maintained by the county, so the layer list is long and worth exploring.
You can get there from the Riverside County row of our California directory or the national directory map.
Search by APN or address
California assessor parcel numbers (APNs) follow a book-page-parcel pattern. Riverside County APNs appear on tax bills, deeds, and listings, and they are the best way to find vacant desert land where addresses are rare. Copy the APN exactly — a single transposed digit can land you miles away. See our APN explainer for more.
Map My County, step by step
- Open Map My County and accept any disclaimer.
- Search by APN or address using the search tool.
- Click the parcel for its report: APN, acreage, and planning designations.
- Turn on layers that matter — zoning, general plan, flood, fire hazard, or fault zones.
- Use the measure tool for rough distances and note them as estimates.
- Print or export a map with the date.
How to find property lines in Riverside County
- Find the APN in Map My County and note the tract or parcel map reference in the legal description.
- Get the recorded tract map, parcel map or record of survey through the Recorder.
- Walk the lot with the map. In older desert areas, corner monuments can be missing or disturbed.
- Before you build near a line, fence acreage or buy raw desert land, hire a California licensed surveyor.
Western Riverside: suburbs, warehouses, and hills
The City of Riverside is the county seat. Around it are Moreno Valley, Corona, Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, Norco, and Perris, and to the south Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, Lake Elsinore, and Hemet. The western county has become a major logistics hub, with large warehouse and distribution centers, so commercial buyers use the map to find large industrial-zoned parcels and residents use it to follow nearby projects. In the hills, parcels can include steep slopes and wildland edges.
Riverside County acreage map: the Coachella Valley and open desert
East of the San Gorgonio Pass, the Coachella Valley holds Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella. It is known for resorts, golf, date palms, and agriculture near the Salton Sea. Part of the valley lies within the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation, where land is arranged in a checkerboard and some parcels are leased rather than owned outright — something to understand before you buy in Palm Springs. Farther east, desert land around Desert Center and Blythe is where people find inexpensive acreage, often with no utilities or legal road access.
Wine country and rural acreage
Temecula Valley’s wineries sit east of the city, and wine-country zoning shapes what can be built there. Farther out, Anza, Aguanga, and the high country offer rural parcels with space for horses and small farms. For acreage research, compare the aerial with the parcel line and check access, water, and septic feasibility early. Our vacant land guide covers the checklist.
Riverside County plat maps: tract maps, parcel maps and records of survey
In California, the plat-book equivalent is the set of recorded maps. Subdivisions are recorded as tract maps, smaller divisions as parcel maps, and surveys as records of survey, all cited by map book and page. No privately published owner atlas covers Riverside County. Map My County is the free current map, and the recorded maps are available from the Recorder. When you scout desert land for recreation or hunting, remember that large blocks around the Coachella Valley and eastern county are federal land. On private ground, the owner of record is where permission starts. A Southern California atlas and gazetteer is worth the glovebox space.
Zoning, fire, fault and flood layers
California mapping adds hazard layers you do not see everywhere. CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zones affect building standards and insurance. Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zones — the San Jacinto and San Andreas faults both cross Riverside County — can trigger geologic studies before construction. FEMA flood zones and local flood-control data matter along washes and in low-lying areas. Map My County typically lets you view these layers; confirm details with the county departments that regulate them. Our flood zones guide explains how to read flood layers.
Is the Riverside County GIS map accurate?
It’s accurate for locating a parcel and seeing which planning and hazard layers touch it. It is not a boundary survey. APN lines are drawn from recorded maps and deeds for assessment, and in the desert, where many parcels were created by old section-based divisions, the drawn line can sit well off the monuments. Riverside County combines the Assessor, County Clerk and Recorder in one office. Deeds and recorded maps come from the Recorder side. A California licensed land surveyor determines boundaries. For neighboring counties, see our guides to Orange County, San Diego County and Los Angeles County, plus the California parcel map guide and the California county GIS hub.
Buyer mistakes, plus quick fixes when Map My County won’t load
- Buying desert land without checking access. A dirt track on the aerial may not be a legal road.
- Assuming utilities are nearby. Distance to power and water can be the biggest cost on a rural parcel.
- Overlooking fire zones. Fire hazard severity can affect building standards and insurance.
- Mixing up city and county. Many addresses carry a city name but sit in unincorporated county territory with different rules.
If Map My County freezes after the disclaimer screen, reload it, allow pop-ups for the county site, and try a desktop browser. It’s a layer-heavy Geocortex application. If the link has moved, the Riverside County row of our California directory has the current one.
Who uses the map
Homebuyers comparing Inland Empire suburbs, investors in Coachella Valley vacation rentals, builders, industrial site selectors, desert land buyers, surveyors, engineers, and title officers. Growers and ranchers use it to track agricultural parcels.
Frequently asked questions
What is Map My County?
It is Riverside County’s public web map. You can search parcels, view boundaries on imagery, and turn on planning and hazard layers.
How do I find my parcel number by address in Riverside County?
Search the address in Map My County and click the parcel. The APN appears in the parcel report and on your property tax bill.
Is a plat map the same as a survey?
No. A recorded tract or parcel map created the lots. A survey, or a new record of survey, locates the corners on the ground and can show encroachments.
Where are Riverside County deeds recorded?
With the Recorder side of the combined Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder office.
Open the official Riverside County GIS viewer Riverside County in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey — especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.