20 Attractions to Explore Near North Central Valley Wildlife Management Area

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thermalito Afterbay, a diversion pool downstream of Lake Oroville, is another option for boaters and paddlers. With 17 miles of shoreline and 4,300 surface acres of water, the Thermalito Afterbay is open for boating, swimming, fishing, picnicking, and limited hunting. No-wake speed limits before and after sunset allow for peaceful paddling, swimming and fishing.

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.

Thermalito Forebay is a day use area featuring cool, clear water from Lake Oroville and located in low rolling foothills, with scenic views of Table Mountain to the east. features 300 surface acres of water, a 200-yard swimming area with a sandy beach, and plenty of shade. There are men's and women's dressing rooms, flush toilets, a drinking fountain, and a disabled-accessible fishing pier.

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.

The Oroville Wildlife Area is over 11,000 acres of riparian woodland habitat along the Feather River and grasslands around the Thermalito Afterbay. Warm water fish species can be found in the numerous dredger ponds and the Thermalito Afterbay. Wildlife species seen in the area include coyote, badger, fox, bobcat, porcupine, osprey, white-tailed kite, egrets, woodpeckers, and warblers.

A beautiful park which provides year-round river access, open lawn and miles of scenic paved and unpaved paths with riparian conservation areas for local wildlife. A dog Off Leash Area with river access can be found in the neighboring gravel lot on the east side of the park. It is also a very popular summer destination for river floating and summer events; expect limited parking and a high volume of trail and river use traffic during warm summer days or Old Mill events.

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.

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.

This is a museum and active temple that showcases the history of the Chinese community in Butte County and Northern California, starting during California's Gold Rush and into the early 20th century. The Chinese Temple is a unique piece of California's cultural heritage and should be on every Butte County visitor's itinerary.