Trails Worth Traveling For

Butte Coun­ty Bik­ing Expert: Tim Olson, ex-Pro moun­tain bike rac­er and Butte Coun­ty native

What Makes It Great?

It’s about 5 miles of tech­ni­cal, rocky, twisty down­hill that always leaves you sat­is­fied at the bot­tom. If you want to take it slow, there are some caves and scenic over­looks along the way.

This is part of the down­hill sec­tion of the annu­al Bid­well Bump race that has been going on for 40 years. I rec­om­mend this trail for experts unless you are will­ing to walk your bike on the tricky parts instead of rid­ing it.

We’ve had some world class Enduro rac­ers out here like Mark Weir, Mar­co Osborne and Kyle Warn­er, cur­rent nation­al Enduro champ Amy Mor­ri­son, and they all have had a great time here.

Direc­tions: Start­ing about 9 miles North­east of Chico up High­way 32, you’ll see a green met­al gate and a dirt park­ing area. Fol­low the dirt road about ¹⁄₄ mile down­hill, then turn left on the trail and fol­low it all the way to Chico.

What Makes It Great?

Feath­er Falls is amaz­ing! Most peo­ple walk this trail, but if you can ped­al the 2500’ ele­va­tion gain in the 9 mile round trip, it’s a great inter­me­di­ate lev­el ride. If you go on a week­day you’ll nev­er see any­one out there. 

I rec­om­mend the upper route both ways since the low­er trail is over­grown and has suf­fered some rain dam­age, and is a much steep­er climb on the return. On a busy week­end I would leave the bike at home and go on foot.

To hike this trail takes most peo­ple about 4 hours. To do it as a trail run or on a bike cuts it down to about 2 hours. You can’t ride all the way to the falls, but once you can hear the water just park it and you are basi­cal­ly there anyway. 

Walk down the rocky steps to the over­look and enjoy. Don’t for­get your cam­era. This is one of the largest falls in the Unit­ed States and com­pa­ra­ble to many of the falls in Yosemite.

Direc­tions: From Oroville take Oro Dam Boule­vard to 162 E to Forbestown road to Lump­kin road uphill to the trail­head. There’s a camp­ground and signs every­where so you can’t miss it.

*Update Octo­ber 2020: Due to exten­sive dam­age from the North Com­plex Fire, Feath­er Falls, the trail, and its sur­round­ing areas ARE CLOSED THROUGH JUL 2025 to hik­ing, hunt­ing, camp­ing, and fish­ing due to ongo­ing recov­ery efforts. The trail to Feath­er Falls was bad­ly dam­aged and is extreme­ly dan­ger­ous — any­one who tries to visit/​hike the area will be cited.

What Makes It Great?

The Brad Free­man Trail, and specif­i­cal­ly the Bid­well Canyon Trail por­tion, is a great begin­ner lev­el moun­tain bike trail with spec­tac­u­lar views of the Oroville Dam spill­way, Lake Oroville, old train tun­nels, and the Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Cen­ter. Min­i­mal tech­ni­cal skill is required but you will be doing some climb­ing if you start at the bottom! 

It’s just a real­ly peace­ful area, with relax­ing trails and sev­er­al spots to get water and take some nice breaks. I def­i­nite­ly rec­om­mend step­ping inside the Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Cen­ter if you have time. On a clear day you can see Mount Dia­blo in the dis­tance from the obser­va­tion deck.

Direc­tions: Depend­ing on your group you could start at the top and work your way down, or start in Down­town Oroville and go up and back. Start­ing in Oroville at the Table Moun­tain Boule­vard bridge, head upstream along the south side of the Feath­er Riv­er toward the Nature Cen­ter trail­head access. You’ll see a dirt trail par­al­lel to the rail­road tracks. Before the rail­road cross­es a bridge, you cross the tracks and fol­low a flat trail along the riv­er. Stay on this trail and fol­low the signs all the way to the top of the dam.

Once at the top, there are restrooms and a water foun­tain. Keep fol­low­ing the signs and map uphill all the way to the vis­i­tors cen­ter and the Sad­dle Dam trail­head access if you are up for it. Turn around and head back down.

Butte Coun­ty Hik­ing Expert: Jason Mand­ly, Local Hik­ing Afi­ciona­do, trip orga­niz­er for the Chico-Oroville Out­door Adven­tur­ers Meet­up Group, cre­ator of the Cal­i­for­nia Hik­ing Map, and an air qual­i­ty planner.

What Makes It Great?:

Feath­er Falls, pure and sim­ple. It’s mas­sive and the view from the over­look is one of the best in the north­ern Sier­ra Neva­da range. The nine mile loop trail is a great work­out too — with sev­er­al stream cross­ings and views of the Wild and Scenic Mid­dle Fork of the Feath­er River.

Direc­tions: Get to Oroville via High­way 70. Take High­way 162 east for about eight miles and take a right turn onto Forbestown Road. After six miles turn left onto Lump­kin Road and con­tin­ue into the foothills for anoth­er eleven miles. Turn left towards the Feath­er Falls trail­head when you see the trail signs.

*Update Octo­ber 2020: Due to exten­sive dam­age from the North Com­plex Fire, Feath­er Falls, the trail, and its sur­round­ing areas ARE CLOSED THROUGH 2024 to hik­ing, hunt­ing, camp­ing, and fish­ing due to ongo­ing recov­ery efforts. The trail to Feath­er Falls was bad­ly dam­aged and is extreme­ly dan­ger­ous — any­one who tries to visit/​hike the area will be cited.

What Makes It Great?:

Amaz­ing swim­ming holes and soli­tude. Did you see that rock dome while hik­ing to Feath­er Falls? Dome Trail takes you under­neath Bald Rock Dome, through a rock fis­sure, and down a remote stair­case to a Wild and Scenic stretch of the Feath­er Riv­er. It’s a tough adven­ture on its own, but you can pair it with near­by Big Bald Rock for dou­ble the granite!

Direc­tions: Get to Oroville via High­way 70. Take High­way 162 east into the foothills for about 18 miles. Turn right onto Bald Rock Road and trav­el about 8.7 miles through the com­mu­ni­ty of Berry Creek. Turn right onto For­est Ser­vice Road #21N51Y and con­tin­ue about 3 miles on a dirt road to the trailhead.

What Makes It Great?:

Incred­i­ble beau­ty. There are so many trails in Upper Bid­well Park each with spe­cial per­spec­tives and land­scapes, but the Yahi Trail does a great job of show­ing off some of the park’s finest views. The Yahi Trail is great to vis­it any time of year too, with spring wild­flow­ers, sum­mer swim­ming holes, and fall foliage.

Direc­tions: Get to Chico via High­way 99. Exit East Avenue and head east for about 2.5 miles. Con­tin­ue through the traf­fic cir­cle onto Upper Park Road. After about 1.5 miles you will see park­ing lots near Horse­shoe Lake. After park­ing, walk east on Upper Park Road to find the begin­ning of the Yahi Trail.