From Hatchery to Heritage in Oroville: A One-Day Sustainable Itinerary

Start your day with cof­fee and a sweet treat from Ear­ly Bird Donuts, a fam­i­ly-owned shop mak­ing fresh dai­ly donuts for near­ly two decades.

Then swim off to the Feath­er Riv­er Fish Hatch­ery, where you can learn about salmon and steel­head trout restora­tion efforts. Vis­i­tors can watch migrat­ing salmon from mid-Sep­tem­ber to mid-Novem­ber or spawn­ing steel­head from mid-Decem­ber through mid-Feb­ru­ary through an under­wa­ter view­ing win­dow. Walk along the fish lad­der, and enjoy inter­ac­tive exhibits. The hatch­ery is open for self-guid­ed tours all year long, but for the best expe­ri­ence, sched­ule a guid­ed tour.

In the after­noon, pre­pare your­self for learn­ing all about Oroville’s agri­cul­tur­al and nature-lov­ing her­itage. Stop at one of these three local farms:

• Stage­coach Lane Ranch: Pick your own cher­ries from May through July at this work­ing ranch that once served as the main stage­coach stop west of the Sier­ra. There’s also a vaca­tion rental on the prop­er­ty, which is farmed using sus­tain­able meth­ods and wild­fire pre­ven­tion techniques.
• Tri‑L Man­darin Ranch: A must-vis­it for cit­rus lovers! This fam­i­ly-owned man­darin ranch has a robust show­room offer­ing fresh, tree-ripened man­darins as well as sauces, sea­son­ings, syrups and more from oth­er local pro­duc­ers. Their sweet fruit is avail­able between the Thanks­giv­ing and Christ­mas sea­sons, as are deli­cious options from oth­er Oroville cit­rus grow­ers.
• Sohn­rey Fam­i­ly Foods: This five-gen­er­a­tion work­ing farm fea­tures a gift shop packed with deli­cious treats like roast­ed gar­lic, region­al wines and much more. Get a mem­ber of the Sohn­rey fam­i­ly talk­ing about their sus­tain­able prac­tices if you get a chance!

Last­ly, learn more about Oroville’s incred­i­ble his­to­ry with water by vis­it­ing the Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Cen­ter. The com­plex over­looks the Oroville dam and fea­tures many edu­ca­tion­al dis­plays. Exhibits include a his­tor­i­cal look at Cal­i­for­nia water man­age­ment, Native Amer­i­can his­to­ry and more. 

Keep your eyes open for the dis­play on Ishi, the last known mem­ber of the Native Amer­i­can Yahi peo­ple to live in the wild in the area until he emerged at age 50 in 1911.

From the Vis­i­tor Cen­ter, return to Down­town Oroville via Oroville Dam Boule­vard, where, if you’re vis­it­ing dur­ing the win­ter and ear­ly spring, you can take in the sights of the flow­ing Oroville Spill­way, an impor­tant piece of the dam’s water con­trol and con­ser­va­tion efforts.

Then end your night with a deli­cious din­ner right down­town at Pro­vi­sions, serv­ing deli­cious craft cock­tails and eats in a his­toric building.

Oroville’s focus on sus­tain­abil­i­ty and edu­ca­tion offers a refresh­ing take on trav­el. By vis­it­ing its eco-friend­ly attrac­tions, you’ll gain a deep­er appre­ci­a­tion for the region’s efforts to pre­serve its nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­itage for future generations.