Upper Bidwell Park - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Annie Bidwell Trail is a 3 mile popular blue singletrack trail located near Chico California.The Trail starts off with short, punchy climbs up to the rim of the canyon, and follows with a steep, rocky downhill. At the bottom, you’ll enjoy a nice meadow and several swimming opportunities, followed by more climbing and drops, making it a moderate-to-challenging trail.

Hooker Oak Park is one of Chico's oldest outdoor recreation facilities. Sharing it's boundary with the beautiful Big Chico Creek adjacent to Bidwell Park, this full service park offers an array of recreation and leisure activities. This much-loved park has both covered and uncovered picnic areas, barbecues, baseball fields, softball fields, basketball courts, two playgrounds, horseshoe pits, restrooms, and walking paths through the beautiful oak trees and next to Big Chico Creek.

A majestic museum, which showcases the rural community of Centerville. Stroll through the Colman Museum to learn about the history of the region and its inhabitants, from the Maidu natives to those who came during the Gold Rush to the simple everyday stories of everyday Canyonites. Explore artifacts, displays, and exhibits.

The Chico Seed Orchard is located on 209 acres in Chico, California. Today they produces plants for projects such as reforestation, wildfire recovery, watershed restoration, fisheries, riparian habitat for threatened and endangered species, Native American culture values, oak woodland restoration, mine reclamation, campgrounds and interpretive areas, forest health including research and disease resistance.

Sycamore Pool is a beautiful outdoor swimming facility was built on Big Chico Creek at the One-Mile Recreation Area of Bidwell Park in Chico. The water comes from the mountains and at first it's cold, but once you relax it's comfortable. This body of water travels through the town out to the Sacramento River. There are tile depth markers every six feet or so along the pool’s edge. The lifeguard chairs look original, but that is uncertain. A bridge across the dam was built later.

One Mile Recreation Area is located in Lower Bidwell Park. has a large pool, named the Sycamore Pool, with Big Chico Creek running through it. The area offers a large grassy area with many big shady trees, picnic tables, barbecues, drinking fountains, restrooms, walking trails, horseshoe pits, and the nearby sycamore field and Caper Acres Playground. This area is an excellent site for birthdays, family reunions, baby showers, social gatherings, and many other events.