Explore Butte County

Outside of the main cities, you’ll find even more adventures in Butte County’s census designated places and unincorporated communities. Enjoy a laid-back day of wine tasting at one of the region’s two wine districts--either at the Durham Wine District, just south of Chico, or the Bangor Wine & Spirits Region, just south of Oroville. In the high country--the area north of Paradise/northeast of Chico, along Highway 32--communities including Butte Meadows and Jonesville, turn into snow-covered wonderlands during winter and early fall. There, you can enjoy snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and even backcountry yurting. And throughout the county, you can discover beautiful hidden gems, if you’re just willing to explore, such as miles of rice fields in Richvale, one of the prettiest parks in the county in Stirling City, historic covered bridges in Oregon City, miles of hiking and biking trails, lakes and rivers, and more.

Gridley, the gateway to Butte County on Highway 99, offers visitors a quaint downtown area featuring historic buildings, locally run shops, and a hyper-local history museum showcasing the deep community roots. It’s also home to the county fairgrounds, which bustles with energy every August during the annual county fair. In fall and winter, the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area is home to thousands of migratory birds, making it a perfect spot for birders and hunters. Neighboring Biggs is a small farming community surrounded by rice fields and orchards and offers a quaint, quiet life for its residents, with the main drive B Street, lined with historic buildings, busiest during the city’s annual 4th of July celebration.

Paradise and the Paradise Ridge communities, including Magalia, Concow, Yankee Hill, and others, offer higher-elevation adventures through pine tree forests. Throughout the area, you’ll find beautiful natural landscapes, including Bille Park in Paradise and Paradise Lake in Magalia, annual events and museums celebrating the region’s Gold Rush past, and antique shops, boutiques, and other local businesses.

Oroville is the gateway to a variety of outdoor adventures. At the center of the city is Lake Oroville, where you’ll find plenty of space for water skiing, house boating, kayaking, and fishing year-round (as well as some unique-to-Lake Oroville gems like floating campgrounds). Phantom Falls on Table Mountain is a seasonal waterfall that flows in the winter and spring, while the year-round Feather Falls is one of the prettiest waterfalls in the state. The nearby Feather River--just minutes from Downtown Oroville--provides great kayaking and fishing opportunities, with a great view of the salmon and trout migrations at the nearby Fish Hatchery. Downtown Oroville is also home to fun shops and restaurants as well as history-focused museums, and you can also enjoy a variety of wineries throughout the city.

Chico is the urban center of Butte County. It's home to massive Bidwell Park, with woodland trails, some of the best urban swimming holes in the country, a golf course, an observatory, and more. Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park is the former home of local pioneers John and Annie Bidwell. There are a variety of arts and cultural activities throughout the city, including museums, live performance spaces, glass blowing studios, and art galleries. The Downtown Chico area is home to the dining and shopping hub, where you’ll find dozens of local eateries and unique stores to explore. With the Sacramento River bordering its western edge, you can also enjoy tubing, kayaking, and beachside adventures. And of course, no visit is complete without a trip to Sierra Nevada Brewery and the other local breweries making names for themselves.

Butte County houses four cities--Chico, Oroville, Gridley, and Biggs--as well as the town of Paradise. It also has 17 census-designated places: Bangor, Berry Creek, Butte Creek Canyon, Butte Meadows, Butte Valley, Cherokee, Clipper Mills, Cohasset, Concow, Durham, Forbestown, Forest Ranch, Honcut, Kelly Ridge, Magalia, Nord, Oroville East, Palermo, Rackerby, Richvale, Robinson Mill, South Oroville, Stirling City, Thermalito, and Yankee Hill. The 11 unincorporated communities in the county are Centerville, Cresta, DeSabla, Dodge Place, Helltown, Inskip, Irish Town, Lomo, Lovelock, Mineral Slide, and Powerllton.

You pronounce it the same way as the first syllable in “beautiful” (“BUTTEiful”).

Butte County is located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. It is 1.25 hours southeast from the Redding airport, 1.5 hours north from Sacramento International Airport, and 3.5 hours northeast from San Francisco International Airport. It is accessible via Highways 99 and 70.