Stroll Through the Chico Seed Orchard

Many famil­iar plants spent their first years in the Unit­ed States right here, includ­ing the kiwifruit, pis­ta­chio, and jujube fruit. This 209-acre botan­i­cal gem still con­tains many of these orig­i­nal plants, some of which are labeled with inter­pre­tive signs along the one mile long paved nature path. Cur­rent­ly, the Chico Seed Orchard focus­es on pro­duc­ing seed trees for projects such as refor­esta­tion, wild­fire recov­ery, water­shed restora­tion, and mine reclamation.

Take a walk with your favorite four-legged friend (on leash) or enjoy a creek­side lunch at one of the sev­en estab­lished pic­nic sites. High tree canopies often filled with birds cre­ate the feel of a bustling bird aviary. A restroom pro­vid­ed along the loop trail and wheel­chair acces­si­bil­i­ty make this loca­tion easy and enjoy­able for the whole family.

Direc­tions & Hours

Make your way to Chico via High­way 99 and exit east onto Sky­way (Exit 383). Dri­ve a quar­ter of a mile and turn right on Dominic Dri­ve. At the end of the road turn left onto Mor­row Lane then take the next right onto Cramer Lane. Pro­ceed for about 2000 feet and park­ing is avail­able just out­side. Addi­tion­al park­ing is avail­able inside the gate dur­ing oper­at­ing hours.

• The main gate is open from 7am to 3pm Mon­day through Friday.
• The pedes­tri­an gate is open sev­en days a week from 7am through 7pm in the sum­mer (March 1 — Octo­ber 31) and from 7am through 5pm in the win­ter (Novem­ber 1 — Feb­ru­ary 29). 
• Closed on holidays.