20 Attractions to Explore Near Upper Bidwell Park

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.

This is a beautiful, three-story, 26 room Victorian House Museum that stands as a memorial to John and Annie Bidwell. John Bidwell was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician and philanthropist. Now a museum and State Historic Park, it is California Historical Landmark #329 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion was a $60,000 project, and was finished in May 1868.

The Chico Air Museum is a nonprofit aviation museum located at the Chico Municipal Airport in Chico, California. The museum’s primary purpose is to educate and inspire people of all ages about aviation and the history of flight.

The Butte Creek Ecological Preserve is a 93-acre site along the middle section of Butte Creek. The site was formerly used for gold, sand and gravel mining, and is recovering from those activities. It contains more than a mile of creek frontage, as well as habitat for many species of special status, including the Western Pond Turtle and Yellow-legged Frog. The reserves protect habitat for other species such as bald eagle, Swainson's hawk, beaver and the western pond turtle.

The National Yo-Yo Museum features the worlds largest public display of yo-yo, yo-yo memorabilia, and contest awards. It's the home of BIG-YO, the World's Biggest Working Wooden Yo-Yo in the 1982 Guinness Book of World Records. It is located inside Bird in Hand and is open 7 days a week and is free to tour. Guided visits are available to groups by special arrangement.

This is a Victorian home built by Dr. Oscar Stansbury in 1883. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and in 1991 was listed as supporting the South Campus Historic District. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and in 1991 was listed as supporting the South Campus Historic District.

A beautiful park surrounded by a redwood grove, the Counselor's Circle and group BBQ area will provide a serene setting for your special outdoor wedding and reception. It is is located at 501 Bille Road. Bille Park Expansion boasts a gazebo, pavilion and even a kitchen that can also be rented for events of up to 120 people. The features of this park blend cohesively to give any outdoor event an air of elegance among the natural setting of the Ridge.

The Janet Turner Print Museum at California State University, Chico advances the art of printmaking by making its international collection accessible to the people of Northern California and beyond. We engage a diverse public through stimulating exhibitions, programming, and study to inspire reflection, collaboration, and action.

A beautiful lake that covers an area of 244 acres and is surrounded by beautiful wooded land and has a shoreline of 7.5 miles. It is one of two reservoirs which stores water for the community of Paradise. Because it is water supply for the public, it is strictly regulated.The lake is open daily, except for Wednesdays, from 5 am to sunset daily for biking, hiking, walking, fishing from shore or by boat.

Also called as coal canyon falls. This is a waterfall near Oroville, California which is 166 feet high. A small pool at the bottom is home to a California newt subspecies. As a seasonal waterfall, Phantom Falls runs only during the rainy months, late autumn to early spring.

A beautiful waterfalls located in the heart of Butte county. It is one of two waterfalls in Beatson Hollow. North Table Mountain, created by ancient lava flows, is an elevated basalt mesa with beautiful views of mountains, spring wildflowers, waterfalls, and lava outcrops.One particularly popular activity to enjoy near the parking area is kite flying. There is also opportunities for trekking and so many other activities too.

North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, is a beautiful mesa above the city of Oroville that serves up a jaw-dropping spring wildflower bloom, breathtaking Northern California waterfalls, and a chance to hike through a truly unique natural area just outside of Oroville. The reserve protects and preserves the rare Northern Basalt Flow Vernal Pools, a vernal pools habitat type that supports sensitive plants and animals that are either locally endemic, or endemic to California.

Hollow Falls is a waterfall in Butte County.Formed by ancient lava flows, the underlying basalt rock on the mesa holds water, resulting in spectacular annual wildflower blooms, stunning vernal pools, and dramatic but fleeting waterfalls. This is a popular trail for hiking, walking, and other nature trips, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day.

Poe Dam is a concrete gravity diversion dam on the North Fork Feather River, about 5 miles north of Lake Oroville in Butte County, California in the United States. The dam diverts water through an 6.3-mile tunnel to the 120 megawatt Poe Powerhouse, located on the upper reaches of Lake Oroville. The powerhouse has a rated hydraulic head of 477 ft , generating about 500 million kilowatt hours annually.

Located within 11 counties in the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, It consists of conservation easements acquired on privately owned wetlands. The landscape is very flat, bordered by the Sierra and Coast ranges and is surrounded by intensive agriculture. It includes approximately 8,500 acres of existing wetlands and 46,500 acres of former wetlands to be restored and developed for waterfowl and other wetland-related wildlife.