Tecopa is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Mojave Desert in southeast Inyo County, California, United States.

Originally occupied by the Koso and Chemehuevi Indians, Pioneers began populating what would become the CDP in the late 19th century to support nearby mines.

[5] China Ranch Wash is named for the Chinese Man who developed Willow Creek around 1900 and raised meat and vegetables to sell to the miners.

[6] In 1875 two brothers William D. and Robert D. Brown, had discovered lead and silver ore at what would become the Resting Springs Mining District and began promoting it.

They established a townsite, calling it Brownsville, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Resting Springs near the head of Willow Creek.

[7] Jonas Osborne bought out the Browns, and renamed the townsite after Paiute leader Chief Tecopa.

The road heading north of the Triangle leads to the Hot Springs zone of the community where the State of California made indemnity selections in 1927.

The Hot Springs area is currently where the Community Center, Fire Station, Library, several tourist facilities and some homes are located.

In the 1950', the General Land Office, then the BLM began offering parcels under the authority of the Small Tract Act of 1938 as recreational properties to become known as "Jackrabbit Homesteads.

The third round of 2.5 acre parcels were offered in 1964 to provide inexpensive land for housing retirees that were squatting at the Hot Springs.

Those parcels now constitute the densist population of what is now known as "Tecopa Heights," the area offered under the Small Tracts Act.

Tecopa is on the east side of the Amargosa Range which lies between the CDP and Death Valley, which was designated a National Park in the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 CDPA.

Nearby mines for other minerals such as talc continued operating for another 25 years providing employment for a few citizens of the area.

Tourism to the hot springs increased and Tecopa began slowly transitioning to an ecotourist and resort area.

[18] A major attraction in the area is the Tecopa Ecological Reserve,[19] which hosts an undeveloped natural ground-fed hot spring.

[20][21] However, the natural hot spring is subject to closure because of impacts to protected Amargosa vole (a subspecies of Microtus californicau) habitat from camp fires and human waste.

[24] The town has a growing microbrewery and bakery scene that caters to the patrons of Tecopa's three hot springs resorts during the fall and winter seasons.

[41] The community instead relies on propane gas deliveries from companies located in Pahrump[42][43] The Incumbent telephone carrier for Tecopa is AT&T.

[53][54][55][56] Cemetery Services in Tecopa are managed by the Tecopa Cemetery District since February 2022[57][58][59] It was the subject of an article by John Gregory Dunne published in the Saturday Evening Post and reprinted in Dunne's book, Quintana & Friends, published by Dutton in 1978.