The Best Things to Do in Chico: Top Traveler-Rated Attractions

The con­sen­sus is unan­i­mous: you don’t tru­ly expe­ri­ence Chico until you get out­side. These are the top-rat­ed nat­ur­al escapes in the area.

Bid­well Park

You can’t talk about Chico with­out talk­ing about Bid­well Park, a stag­ger­ing 3,670-acre expanse that stretch­es from the city cen­ter 11 miles straight into the foothills.

While the entire park is high­ly rat­ed because it offers some­thing for every­one, trav­el­er reviews fre­quent­ly point to Upper Park—with a land­scape of rugged canyon ter­rain and rocky, tech­ni­cal bik­ing trails — as the true gem. It’s also where you’ll find the park’s pop­u­lar swim­ming holes, like the icon­ic Bear Hole.

If you pre­fer a qui­eter, shad­ed stroll, Low­er Park offers flat, paved paths beneath mas­sive oak canopies, along with the creek-fed Sycamore Pool.

Bid­well-Sacra­men­to Riv­er State Park

When the sum­mer heat hits, trav­el­ers point new­com­ers direct­ly to the Bid­well-Sacra­men­to Riv­er State Park on the west­ern edge of town.

It’s the most pop­u­lar local launch point for riv­er tub­ing, kayak­ing, and boat­ing down the Sacra­men­to Riv­er, while the shore fea­tures oak trees that pro­vide great shade for bank fish­ing and casu­al tailgating.

Butte Creek Eco­log­i­cal Preserve

A favorite among bird­watch­ers and hik­ers look­ing to skip the larg­er crowds, the 93-acre Butte Creek Eco­log­i­cal Pre­serve spans over a mile of scenic frontage along Butte Creek Canyon.

It’s high­ly rat­ed for its qui­et foot­paths and its envi­ron­men­tal sig­nif­i­cance as a crit­i­cal spawn­ing habi­tat for wild Chi­nook salmon.

Every town has a hand­ful of spots that tru­ly define the city and shape the local cul­ture. Accord­ing to guest reviews, these are the local insti­tu­tions you should­n’t miss.

Chico Sat­ur­day Farm­ers Market

The Chico Sat­ur­day farm­ers mar­ket is a favorite for any­one look­ing to dive right into the local community.

It’s a high­ly rat­ed des­ti­na­tion for res­i­dents and vis­i­tors, who love shop­ping for region­al pro­duce, pick­ing up arti­san finds, and grab­bing break­fast from the hot food trucks.

With live local music play­ing through­out the stalls, it feels less like a chore and more like a relaxed week­ly neigh­bor­hood hangout.

Eighth & Main Antique Center

The Eighth & Main Antique Cen­ter is a sprawl­ing indoor mar­ket­place that is an antique lover’s paradise.

Span­ning a mas­sive 30,000 square feet, it’s con­sis­tent­ly praised by trav­el­ers for its orga­nized lay­out and the sheer vari­ety of local his­tor­i­cal arti­facts, vin­tage cloth­ing, and retro home décor sold by region­al vendors.

The Nation­al Yo-Yo Museum

Tucked inside the whim­si­cal aisles of the Bird in Hand gift shop down­town, the quirky Nation­al Yo-Yo Muse­um is a cer­ti­fied piece of Americana.

It holds the world’s pre­mier col­lec­tion of yo-yo mem­o­ra­bil­ia, fea­tur­ing his­tor­i­cal dis­plays, the famous giant ​“Big Yo,” and a wel­com­ing staff that offers free spin­ning lessons to vis­i­tors on Saturdays.

Sier­ra Neva­da Brew­ing Co.

Even if you aren’t a big beer drinker, a stop at Sier­ra Neva­da Brew­ing Co. is a must-visit.

Vis­i­tor reviews fre­quent­ly high­light the detailed pro­duc­tion tours that take you right past the gleam­ing cop­per brewhouses.

If you pre­fer to skip the tour, the Tap­room is high­ly rat­ed for both its exten­sive taps and sea­son­al menu, which uses ingre­di­ents sourced direct­ly from the brewery’s on-site gardens.

From world-renowned arti­san work­spaces to inde­pen­dent screens, trav­el­er rat­ings show that Chico packs a sur­pris­ing­ly rich, and acces­si­ble, cre­ative community.

Muse­um of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Art

More com­mon­ly known as mon­ca, this muse­um is ded­i­cat­ed entire­ly to cel­e­brat­ing painters, sculp­tors, and mul­ti­me­dia artists from the region.

Vis­i­tors love the bal­ance of the space, which mix­es a per­ma­nent col­lec­tion with themed, rotat­ing exhi­bi­tions that fea­ture both estab­lished pro­fes­sion­als and local com­mu­ni­ty artists.

It’s high­ly rat­ed as an approach­able gallery where you can get a gen­uine sense of the North­ern Cal­i­for­nia art scene in about an hour.

Ori­ent & Flume Art Glass

Vis­i­tors con­sis­tent­ly give high rat­ings to Ori­ent & Flume because it offers a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty to see muse­um-qual­i­ty glass artistry up close.

While their fin­ished mas­ter­works are dis­played in world-renowned insti­tu­tions like the Smith­son­ian and the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art, you can walk right into their local show­room to view the stun­ning, nature-inspired pieces.

Depend­ing on when you stop by, you can even watch the glass-melt­ing and blow­ing process hap­pen right in front of you, a tra­di­tion the stu­dio has kept alive in Chico since 1972.

The Pageant Theatre

A beloved fix­ture of Chico’s inde­pen­dent arts scene, the Pageant The­atre is the town’s go-to spot for films you won’t find at the local megaplex.

Film lovers rate it high­ly for its inti­mate, com­mu­ni­ty-backed atmos­phere and its curat­ed sched­ule of for­eign films, inde­pen­dent releas­es, and doc­u­men­tary screenings.

If you want to look past the sur­face of the town, trav­el­ers sug­gest spend­ing an hour or two at these edu­ca­tion­al hubs.

Chico Air Museum

The Chico Air Muse­um is high­ly rat­ed by fam­i­lies because of how inter­ac­tive the expe­ri­ence is, espe­cial­ly for kids.

Set inside an authen­tic World War II hangar, the muse­um fea­tures an out­door tar­mac packed with his­toric air­craft that span near­ly a cen­tu­ry of flight.

Vis­i­tors love that kids can actu­al­ly climb inside some of the cock­pits, and the docents on hand are great at shar­ing the sto­ries behind the planes on display.

Chico His­to­ry Museum

If you want to under­stand how the mod­ern town came to be, the Chico His­to­ry Muse­um offers a quick but fas­ci­nat­ing look into the region’s past.

Trav­el­ers appre­ci­ate the reg­u­lar­ly chang­ing exhibits that cov­er every­thing from the her­itage of the local Mechoop­da tribe to the engi­neer­ing sto­ry of the old Chico flume.

Gate­way Sci­ence Museum

A short walk from Chico State, the inter­ac­tive Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um is an absolute hit for fam­i­lies trav­el­ing with curi­ous kids.

The muse­um focus­es heav­i­ly on hands-on STEM dis­plays, along­side a beau­ti­ful out­door eco-region gar­den that show­cas­es the diverse native plant life of North­ern California.

When you need a casu­al place to relax, let the kids burn off some ener­gy, or hang out with a group, trav­el­er rat­ings point to these local parks and complexes.

20^th Street Com­mu­ni­ty Park

As the main pub­lic recre­ation asset for South Chico, the 40-acre 20^th Street Com­mu­ni­ty Park is the epi­cen­ter of local week­end life.

With numer­ous soft­ball fields, bas­ket­ball courts, and expan­sive green fields, it’s a top-rat­ed des­ti­na­tion for a casu­al fam­i­ly pic­nic or an after­noon of throw­ing a fris­bee under the trees.

Chico Chil­dren’s Museum

Younger kids love the Chico Chil­dren’s Muse­um because the entire space is designed for hands-on, inter­ac­tive play.

Locat­ed in Down­town Chico, it fea­tures a scaled-down repli­ca of the city, com­plete with a giant indoor tree­house, along­side ded­i­cat­ed sen­so­ry-sen­si­tive rooms.

Par­ents fre­quent­ly note that the facil­i­ty is beau­ti­ful­ly inclu­sive for chil­dren of all devel­op­men­tal abil­i­ties, mak­ing it an easy stop for fam­i­lies with young children.

DeGar­mo Park

The sprawl­ing DeGar­mo Park is a favorite for any­one trav­el­ing with pets or young kids.

It stands out as one of the best spots in town for out­door activ­i­ty, fea­tur­ing expan­sive play­grounds, clean pic­nic pavil­ions, and a ful­ly fenced dog park that gets glow­ing reviews from pet owners.

Whether you need a place for kids to burn off some ener­gy or a secure spot for your dog to run off-leash, it is an easy, wide-open stop.

Rare Air Tram­po­line Park

When you need an active option to escape a rainy after­noon or the sum­mer heat, the mas­sive indoor Rare Air Tram­po­line Park is a pop­u­lar choice.

The facil­i­ty fea­tures a grid of inter­con­nect­ed tram­po­lines, along­side com­pet­i­tive dodge­ball courts, slam-dunk hoops, and safe jump­ing zones specif­i­cal­ly reserved for toddlers.

It gets great feed­back from par­ents for being a clean, high-ener­gy envi­ron­ment where kids can eas­i­ly burn off steam.

Sil­ver Dol­lar Speedway

For a clas­sic Fri­day night out dur­ing the sum­mer, the high-banked, quar­ter-mile clay track at the Sil­ver Dol­lar Speed­way offers an unmatched local atmosphere.

Locat­ed at the fair­grounds, it’s most pop­u­lar for its fast, dirt-fly­ing sprint car races, but it also hosts every­thing from mon­ster truck ral­lies to destruc­tion derbies.

Vis­i­tor reviews fre­quent­ly point to the packed, loud grand­stands as a thrilling expe­ri­ence where you can grab a cold drink, feel the roar of the engines, and mix with a pas­sion­ate crowd of rac­ing fans.

From leg­endary cam­pus-edge burg­ers to unique region­al treats, vis­i­tor rat­ings high­light a hand­ful of must-vis­it spots that are sim­ply deli­cious and unique­ly Chico.

The Ban­shee

This down­town pub broke onto the nation­al radar when Guy Fieri fea­tured it on ​“Din­ers, Dri­ve-Ins, and Dives,” but The Ban­shee has been a local favorite for years.

Review­ers love the unpre­ten­tious bar atmos­phere paired with an unex­pect­ed­ly cre­ative menu that infus­es clas­sic pub grub with bold South­east Asian fla­vors, like their famous Phở French Dip and some of the best Phở around.

Madi­son Bear Garden

Sit­ting right on the edge of the Chico State cam­pus, Madi­son Bear Gar­den is the defin­i­tive spot to expe­ri­ence Chico’s clas­sic col­lege-town energy.

It’s a casu­al, noisy sta­ple where vis­i­tors and locals mix over pints and com­fort food. Inside, the walls are packed with decades of vin­tage local sports mem­o­ra­bil­ia and his­toric town pho­tos, giv­ing it a lived-in, nos­tal­gic atmosphere.

Whether you stop by for a quick, messy lunch or join the high-ener­gy crowds late at night, it offers an authen­tic, unpol­ished slice of local culture.

Maisie Jane’s Cal­i­for­nia Sun­shine Products

If you want to grab some local food to take home, Maisie Jane’s is a favorite stop for high­ly rat­ed edi­ble sou­venirs, includ­ing local­ly grown almonds, spe­cial­ty nut but­ters, and region­al honey.

Vis­i­tors love that you can sam­ple many of the fla­vored nuts before buy­ing, mak­ing it a quick, tasty stop to stock up on snacks or grab gifts that actu­al­ly rep­re­sent the sur­round­ing valley.