Explore the Two Bidwell Bar Bridges at Lake Oroville

Car­ry­ing State Route 162 across the water and con­nect­ing Oroville with Berry Creek and oth­er foothill com­mu­ni­ties, the Bid­well Bar Bridge is the most rec­og­niz­able land­mark on Lake Oroville.

Com­plet­ed in 1965, the new Bid­well Bar Bridge was built a mile and a half upstream from the orig­i­nal site just before the Mid­dle Fork of the Feath­er Riv­er canyon was flood­ed to cre­ate the reservoir.

When it was built, but before the lake was filled, it stood as one of the high­est sus­pen­sion bridges in the world at 627 feet above the orig­i­nal riverbed.

Today, it sits just 40 feet above the water when the lake is com­plete­ly full, offer­ing an impres­sive visu­al mark­er for boaters.

Expe­ri­ence It: Dri­ving across the bridge is a thrill, but to tru­ly take it in, explore it on foot. Park at the des­ig­nat­ed vista point on the north­ern side of the bridge and walk direct­ly across the span for wide-open views of house­boats, the Bid­well Canyon Mari­na, Wyk Island, and the sur­round­ing Sier­ra Neva­da foothills.

Locat­ed near the Bid­well Canyon Boat Launch, you can step direct­ly into California’s past on the orig­i­nal Bid­well Bar Bridge.

Com­plet­ed in Decem­ber 1855, the orig­i­nal Bid­well Bar Bridge was the very first steel sus­pen­sion bridge built in Cal­i­for­nia, uti­liz­ing mate­ri­als shipped all the way from New York around Cape Horn.

When the con­struc­tion of the Oroville Dam threat­ened to sub­merge the old bridge, preser­va­tion­ists arranged for it to be dis­man­tled and rebuilt on the south side of the lake in 1966, pri­or to the dam’s com­ple­tion in 1967 and sub­se­quent fill­ing of the reser­voir in 1968.

Expe­ri­ence It: Today, the his­toric bridge is com­plete­ly pre­served as a pedes­tri­an-only walk­way. You can cross its orig­i­nal wood­en deck planks to access Wyk Island (some­times spelled Wyke Island), a qui­et, pedes­tri­an-only day-use spot that is per­fect for escap­ing the crowds.

Grab a shad­ed pic­nic table or walk the flat, acces­si­ble 0.27-mile Wyk Island Trail loop to enjoy a peace­ful van­tage point for watch­ing house­boats, dip­ping your toes into the water when the lake is full, catch­ing the lake breeze, and tak­ing in the views of the mod­ern sus­pen­sion bridge across the lake.