A Family Guide to the Must-Visit Parks and Playgrounds in Butte County

Durham Com­mu­ni­ty Park

If you’re look­ing for a beau­ti­ful park nes­tled in a rur­al agri­cul­tur­al area, Durham Com­mu­ni­ty Park has you cov­ered. This sprawl­ing park has a play­ground area, bas­ket­ball courts, a horse-rid­ing are­na, sports fields, and lots of room to run around under­neath mature val­ley oak trees. Like most com­mu­ni­ty parks in Butte Coun­ty, Durham Com­mu­ni­ty Park has large pic­nic areas equipped with BBQs avail­able for reservation.

Man­aged by Durham Recre­ation & Park District

Direc­tions: South of Chico on High­way 99, exit Durham-Day­ton High­way and head west for just over three miles. Durham Com­mu­ni­ty Park will be on your left.

Manuel Vier­ra Park

Gridley’s Vier­ra Park, the south­ern­most park in Butte Coun­ty, fits a lot of action in just over 13 acres. The water tow­er splash pad is the fea­ture attrac­tion dur­ing the sum­mer, while the large vari­ety of play­ground equip­ment and struc­tures keeps kids play­ing year-round. Vier­ra Park is also the home of Gridley’s pub­lic ball fields and ten­nis courts. You’ll find lots of room here for pic­nick­ing, BBQs, and even birth­day parties.

Man­aged by City of Gridley Recre­ation Services.

Direc­tions: From High­way 99 in Gri­d­ley, turn west onto Cher­ry Street. Cher­ry Street will short­ly end at Haskell Street. Turn left and you’ll see the park and park­ing area on your right.

Bil­lie Park

One of the most beau­ti­ful small-town parks any­where in Cal­i­for­nia, Bil­lie Park sits on the edge of Butte Creek Canyon in the Town of Par­adise. The major­i­ty of the park enjoys ample tree-cov­er thanks to stands of pon­derosa, red­wood, oak, and even olive trees. All that shade makes Bil­lie Park a cool­er des­ti­na­tion, mak­ing it a par­tic­u­lar­ly good option dur­ing our hot sum­mers. The sun shines through at the large grass recre­ation field and along the north­ern edge of the park where you can find the best views of Butte Creek Canyon.

Kids will enjoy the two play­ground areas, with one locat­ed at both sides of the expan­sive park. There is plen­ty of room for pic­nics includ­ing a reserv­able group pic­nic area. Bille Park also hosts scenic gaze­bos and event facil­i­ties. Remote-con­trol truck enthu­si­asts can check out the RC crawler course. And in addi­tion to the forest­ed walk­ing paths con­nect­ing the north­ern and south­ern sec­tions of Bil­lie Park, there are a pair of short hik­ing trails lead­ing to Look­out Point and The Grotto.

Man­aged by Par­adise Recre­ation & Park Dis­trict (PRPD)

Direc­tions: Take the Sky­way into Par­adise and turn left (west) onto Bil­lie Road. Bil­lie Park will be on your right after about a mile.

Nel­son Sports Complex

Right on the Ther­mal­i­to Fore­bay just south of the North Fore­bay Recre­ation Area, the Nel­son Sports Complex is ready for many reserv­able events includ­ing sports games, prac­tices, and group pic­nics. The adja­cent Nel­son Swim­ming Pool is avail­able for sum­mer recre­ation and even pri­vate pool events. Vis­i­tors can also enjoy the play­ground area with views of the North Table Moun­tain Eco­log­i­cal Reserve.

This park, along with the oth­ers list­ed below, is man­aged by Feath­er Riv­er Recre­ation & Park Dis­trict (FRRPD).

Direc­tions: From High­way 70 in Oroville, exit Nel­son Avenue and turn west. Take the next right onto 6^th Street which will short­ly dead end at the Nel­son Sports Complex.

Play­town USA

Sports fans vis­it­ing Oroville may already know of Play­town USA, which is next to the Gary Nolan Base­ball Com­plex and Har­ri­son Sta­di­um. Play­town USA offers a play­ground struc­ture and reserv­able pic­nic and BBQ areas to relax at after the game.

Direc­tions: From High­way 70 in Oroville, exit Mont­gomery Street and head east for half of a mile. Turn right onto 5^th Avenue. Play­town USA is on the south­west cor­ner of the inter­sec­tion of 5^th Avenue and Pomona Avenue.

River­bend Park

River­bend Park stretch­es over a mile and a half along the Feath­er Riv­er. There’s obvi­ous­ly a lot of room to run around, and you’ll nev­er be too far away from a sandy river­side beach, boat launch, or fish­ing spot. With four large reserv­able pavil­ions and plen­ty of park­ing, River­bend Park is a pop­u­lar place for large group gatherings.

There are sev­er­al play struc­tures avail­able for kids sur­round­ed by large mul­ti-use fields. Don’t for­get your disc golf gear as there’s an 18-hole course at the south­ern stretch of the park.

Direc­tions: From High­way 70 in Oroville, exit Mont­gomery Street and turn west. Mont­gomery Street short­ly emp­ties right into River­bend Park.

Caper Acres

Not far from the One Mile Recre­ation Area in Bid­well Park, Caper Acres has been enter­tain­ing chil­dren with a fairy-tale theme since 1970. A vis­it to Caper Acres will reveal a drag­on, a pirate ship, a cas­tle, Hump­ty-Dump­ty, the icon­ic Crooked House, and many more play­ful attrac­tions for kids and their families.

The mag­i­cal theme of Caper Acres is even more fit­ting in the beau­ti­ful urban for­est of Low­er Bid­well Park. Large, long-estab­lished trees sur­round the play­ground and pro­vide lots of shade and oppor­tu­ni­ties to spot wood­peck­ers and squir­rels right from the play­ground equipment.

Caper Acres is closed on Mon­days, so plan accordingly.

Man­aged by City of Chico Park Division.

Direc­tions: From High­way 99 in Chico, exit East 8^th Street (High­way 32) and head west for a lit­tle under a mile. Turn right onto Cypress Street. At the inter­sec­tion with East 4^th Street, turn right into Bid­well Park via South Park Dri­ve. Caper Acres will be on your left in a half a mile.

Com­mu­ni­ty Park

Play­ground struc­tures? Check. Tons of sports fields? Check. Pic­nic areas? Check. Don’t for­get the vol­ley­ball court, ten­nis courts, pick­le­ball courts, boc­ce ball court, gym­na­si­um and art instal­la­tions. Com­mu­ni­ty Park is a 40-acre park that is great for a quick vis­it but has enough going on for a full day of fun.

This park, along with the oth­ers list­ed below, is man­aged by Chico Area Recre­ation & Park Dis­trict (CARD).

Direc­tions: From High­way 99 in Chico, exit East 20^th Street and head west. At the first light, turn right onto Dr. Mar­tin Luther King Jr. Park­way. The entrance to Com­mu­ni­ty Park will be on your left short­ly before the road ends.

DeGar­mo Park

DeGar­mo Park is North Chico’s des­ti­na­tion for play­ing out­side. This 36-acre com­mu­ni­ty park fea­tures a large and adven­ture-filled play­ground area com­plete with swings, spin­ners, and a giant web. The mul­ti-use fields and soft­ball fields are pop­u­lar for sport­ing events. With lots of room for pic­nick­ing and two large cov­ered group pic­nic areas avail­able for reser­va­tion, fam­i­lies often stay a while. There’s even a play area for dogs at the north­ern end of DeGar­mo Park!

Direc­tions: From High­way 99 in Chico, exit Eaton Road and head west. At the first light, turn right onto Esplanade. After a half mile, DeGar­mo Park will be on your right.

Hook­er Oak Park

Only half a mile away from Wild­wood Park, Hook­er Oak Park feels like a relax­ing step back in time. This park is the for­mer home of the Hook­er Oak Tree, made famous by the 1938 ver­sion of Robin Hood, and still remains beau­ti­ful­ly wood­ed today. The Robin Hood theme con­tin­ues at the Sher­wood For­est Kids Disc Golf Course just west of the park.

Hook­er Oak Park is one of the old­er parks in the area, but there’s still plen­ty to enjoy, includ­ing sports fields, two play­ground areas, a bas­ket­ball court, and lots of room for pic­nics under a canopy of trees. It’s also a quick walk or bike ride from Hook­er Oak to the Five Mile Recre­ation Area and Mid­dle Bid­well Park.

Direc­tions: Take High­way 32 east from High­way 99 for about a mile and a half. Turn left onto Bruce Road and keep going as it turns into Man­zani­ta Avenue. Hook­er Oak Park is accessed from the traf­fic cir­cle with Hook­er Oak Avenue.

Wild­wood Park

Locat­ed at the entrance to Upper Bid­well Park, Wild­wood Park pairs well with oth­er adven­tures in the area. There’s lots of room for kids to run around at this park, with wide-open spaces and wide-open views. Chil­dren ages 5 – 12 can enjoy the large adven­ture play struc­ture, with anoth­er play struc­ture design for younger kids, too. Make sure to ring the giant chimes!

A unique fea­ture at Wild­wood Park is the dirt pump track with an area for begin­ner bik­ers and a more inter­me­di­ate-to-advanced area. Like many oth­er parks in the area, Wild­wood also comes equipped with cov­ered pic­nic areas and BBQs.

Direc­tions: Head east on East Avenue from High­way 99 in Chico until it ends at a traf­fic cir­cle. You can access Wild­wood Park from Wild­wood Avenue or Eaton Road imme­di­ate­ly after the traf­fic circle.