Discover the Forks of Butte Creek Recreation Area

The Forks of Butte Creek offers access to two dis­tinct trails for adven­tur­ers of all levels.

Butte Creek Trail (Main Area)

This trail con­nects the Doe Mill Bridge park­ing area with the main camp­ground, fol­low­ing the creek’s scenic east bank. The Butte Creek Trail offi­cial­ly begins at Doe Mill Bridge and trav­els south along the west side of the creek for one mile before dis­solv­ing along the canyon’s edge.

Both sec­tions offer fre­quent access to the water’s edge, though access trails on the south­ern por­tion will be much steep­er. Once past the large stair­case towards the end of the hike, the trail steep­ens sig­nif­i­cant­ly before concluding.

This is a good hike for the adven­tur­ous of all ages, and we rec­om­mend going as far as you are comfortable. 

Indi­an Springs Trail (Canyon Access)

The Indi­an Springs Trail, locat­ed near Lake De Sabla, pro­vides access to anoth­er sec­tion of Butte Creek.

This chal­leng­ing trail starts in a clear­ing of exposed ser­pen­tine (California’s State rock!) and plunges near­ly 900 feet in just 1.5 miles into the canyon. Stands of large man­zani­ta, live oak, and big-leaf maple pro­vide wel­come shade along the way.

Sea­son­al Beau­ty: Vis­i­tors in the autumn are treat­ed to beau­ti­ful fall col­ors, while spring­time hik­ers may see a vari­ety of wildflowers.

Sum­mer Relief: The cas­cades and swim­ming holes of Butte Creek are a won­der­ful way to cool off in the summer.

Look­ing to strike it rich like the min­ers of the past? The Forks of Butte Creek Recre­ation Area is the best place for recre­ation gold panning.

Per­mit Require­ments: Gold pan­ning and met­al detect­ing are allowed with­out any per­mits needed.

Sluic­ing: Gold sluic­ing is allowed, pro­vid­ed no new sed­i­ment is intro­duced to the water (help­ing to keep the water clean).

Tools: Only hand tools are allowed when min­er­al collecting.

Min­ing Guide­lines: Get all the details about recre­ation­al min­ing guide­lines here

Gold Pan­ning Site Locations

When you arrive, choose a site along the creek based on acces­si­bil­i­ty and solitude:

• Sites 5 through 11 are near for­mer camp­sites, with rel­a­tive­ly easy access
• Sites 12 through 18b have rel­a­tive­ly easy access from the Butte Creek Trail south of Doe Mill Road.
• Sites 19 through 26 require a longer, steep­er hike in but offer more soli­tude for the rugged adventurer.

Access­ing the Forks of Butte Creek Recre­ation Area requires nav­i­gat­ing wind­ing roads and unmain­tained dirt roads.

Route to Lake De Sabla (Start­ing Point)

• Make your way to Chico via High­way 99 and exit east onto Sky­way (Exit 383).
• Enjoy breath­tak­ing views of Butte Creek Canyon as you wind up the hill on Sky­way towards the Town of Paradise.
• Lake De Sabla is about 21 miles up the hill from High­way 99 in Chico.

Main Recre­ation Area: Forks of Butte Creek Camp­ground & Butte Creek Trail

• Turn left onto Pow­el­ton Road (half of a mile past Lake De Sabla).
• At the next inter­sec­tion, bear left onto Doe Mill Road.
• The next inter­sec­tion is Ditch Grade Road:
  • To reach the camp­ground area, bear right onto Ditch Grade Road for about 1.5 miles.
  • To reach Doe Mill Bridge and the Butte Creek Trail, con­tin­ue on Doe Mill Road past Ditch Grade Road for about a mile.

Note: Both Doe Mill Road and Ditch Grade Road are unmain­tained dirt roads in the winter.

Indi­an Springs Trailhead

• Turn left onto Hum­bug Road just before Lake De Sabla.
• Take the next right onto De Sabla Pow­er­house Road and trav­el for 1.5 miles.
• The trail­head is accessed via a short access road on the right.