Clotilde Merlo Park

Hid­den in his­toric Stir­ling City, Clotilde Mer­lo Park is a des­ti­na­tion for those seek­ing nat­ur­al beau­ty and tran­quil­i­ty. Vis­i­tors will quick­ly notice that this is no ordi­nary park once they start walk­ing around the care­ful­ly designed and main­tained grounds. Play­ful bronze stat­ues appear at almost every cor­ner while notes, ded­i­ca­tions, and home­sites scat­tered around the 20-acre park trans­port vis­i­tors back through time and intro­duce them to the pio­neers of Stir­ling City. At 3,500 feet in ele­va­tion, Mer­lo Park is also one of the cool­er places in Butte Coun­ty to take a walk.

There are no play­grounds here at Mer­lo Park, but the forest­ed atmos­phere and the wind­ing board­walks and foot­paths will nat­u­ral­ly keep the atten­tion of vis­it­ing fam­i­lies. Three large ponds host res­i­dent ducks and fish that eager­ly await feed­ing time (fish food is avail­able for pur­chase). The sur­round­ing for­est as well as the park’s orna­men­tal trees and flow­ers are home to many but­ter­flies, birds, and oth­er wildlife.

There are sev­er­al small pic­nic areas as well as room for large group pic­nics, events, and, with an out­door wed­ding chapel, even wed­dings! Mer­lo Park also has a boc­ce court and a horse­shoe pit, so make sure to bring your favorite pic­nic games.

The restroom is locat­ed by the his­toric homesites.

Hours & Activities

The park is open May through Octo­ber Thurs­day through Sun­day from 10am to 7pm. To main­tain the peace and beau­ty of the park, pets, fish­ing, smok­ing, swim­ming, and wheeled recre­ation (bikes, skate­boards, etc.) are prohibited.

Clotilde Mer­lo Park was ded­i­cat­ed in 1987 by the Har­ry A. Mer­lo Foun­da­tion and is pri­vate­ly owned and operated. 

Group Event Reser­va­tions: Con­tact the park at (530) 873‑1658 for group events over 15 people

Direc­tions

Stir­ling City is about 45 min­utes from Chico or Oroville and about 30 min­utes from Par­adise. From the Chico area, take the Sky­way through Par­adise. From the Oroville area, take High­way 70 north, con­tin­ue on High­way 70 past High­way 149, and turn left onto High­way 191 (Clark Road). Take Clark Road through Paradise. 

From the inter­sec­tion of Sky­way and Clark Road in Par­adise, con­tin­ue north on Sky­way for anoth­er 13 miles past the com­mu­ni­ties of Mag­a­lia, De Sabla, and Love­lock. Just before enter­ing the com­mu­ni­ty of Stir­ling City, turn right onto Ret­son Road (there’s a sign for Clotilde Mer­lo Park). Imme­di­ate­ly bear right to con­tin­ue on Ret­son Road then bear left at the gat­ed inter­sec­tion with P‑line. The park­ing lot will be on your left.