Hike the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve

When is the Best Time to Vis­it Table Mountain?

The reserve is a sea­son­al won­der. To see it at its best, plan your trip for:

• Win­ter (Decem­ber-Feb­ru­ary): Vis­it after heavy rains to see up to 14 flow­ing water­falls and scenic ver­nal pools. Be pre­pared for sig­nif­i­cant mud and cool­er temperatures.
• Spring (March-ear­ly May): This is peak wild­flower sea­son. Blooms typ­i­cal­ly start in March, peak in April, and fade by ear­ly May. Vis­it as ear­ly in the day as pos­si­ble or on a week­day to avoid the crowds and enjoy a calmer experience.

Why Are There So Many Wild­flow­ers on Table Mountain?

Wild­flow­ers thrive on the North Table Moun­tain Eco­log­i­cal Reserve because of the Love­joy basalt that cov­ers the mesa and cre­ates a dense, impen­e­tra­ble layer.

This pre­vents water from seep­ing deep into the ground, and instead forms the ver­nal pools and soil con­di­tions that allow wild­flow­ers to flourish.

Per­mits

Lands Pass Required: Every vis­i­tor 16 or old­er must car­ry a CDFW Lands Pass. (exempt if you hold a valid CA hunt­ing or fish­ing license). Pur­chase online at the CDFW web­site, by phone at (800) 565‑1458, or in-per­son at loca­tions wher­ev­er hunt­ing and fish­ing licens­es are sold.

Park­ing

Lot Park­ing: Use the grav­el lot on the west side of Chero­kee Road. Arrive ear­ly; space is limited.

Road­side Park­ing: Vehi­cles on the shoul­der must be com­plete­ly off the pave­ment. Park­ing on the pave­ment is strict­ly pro­hib­it­ed along the paved por­tion of Chero­kee Road, begin­ning approx­i­mate­ly 3.0 miles north of the inter­sec­tion of Ore­gon Gulch Road (large park­ing turnout near the crest of Chero­kee Road) to Der­rick Road (map); vio­la­tors are sub­ject to towing.

Reserve Rules

• Stay on Trail: Walk only on estab­lished paths or durable sur­faces like rock to pro­tect frag­ile habitats.
• Leave No Trace: Trash cans and restrooms are only avail­able at the park­ing lot. Pack out every­thing you pack in.
• Enjoy the View Only: Don’t pick or walk on the wildflowers
• Cat­tle: Respect graz­ing cat­tle by stay­ing at least 300 feet away.
• Dogs: Allowed but must remain on-leash at all times.
• Drones: Pro­hib­it­ed with­out an appro­pri­ate film permit.

The hike to Phan­tom Falls is a clas­sic Butte Coun­ty expe­ri­ence. The falls flow dur­ing the rainy sea­son, sur­round­ed by car­pets of wild­flow­ers in the spring. 

The Route

From the park­ing area, head north­west toward Ravine Falls. Start look­ing for a path lead­ing down­hill into the ravine. Depend­ing on what sea­son you go, Ravine Falls might be dried up but there is a clear sig­nage for it when you get there. Then you will make your way up a rocky incline and across the rolling hills towards Phan­tom Falls. 

After cross­ing the ravine, con­tin­ue across the rolling hills toward the canyon edge. Even if Phan­tom Falls is dry, you’ll know you’ve arrived because of the panoram­ic views of the canyon.

Nav­i­ga­tion

It’s easy to lose the trail in the open reserve. We rec­om­mend down­load­ing the Aven­za Maps app and the Phan­tom Falls map before you arrive (you can also view a PDF ver­sion here).

This loop offers a ​“great­est hits” expe­ri­ence of the reserve. You’ll see Phan­tom Falls plus four addi­tion­al sea­son­al water­falls. Wild­flow­ers are abun­dant Feb­ru­ary through April, plus graz­ing cat­tle year-round.

Stur­dy, water­proof hik­ing boots are high­ly rec­om­mend­ed as this route involves cross-coun­try trav­el over uneven terrain.

The Many Water­falls Cross-Coun­try Loop is the pre­mier route for water­fall seekers.

Tak­ing you around Table Moun­tain dur­ing the rainy sea­son, this loop will have at least nine water­falls, with 14 flow­ing with­in a few days of a major rain­storm and all of them dry dur­ing the sum­mer. It’s a fleet­ing beau­ty worth seeing.

This route is dif­fi­cult, often mud­dy, and requires active nav­i­ga­tion, so we rec­om­mend the Aven­za Maps app and the Many Water­falls Loop trail map before your hike so that you can fol­low the GPS coor­di­nates in real-time.

Dri­ving Directions

From Oroville: Take Hwy 70 North and exit at Grand Ave (Exit 48). Turn right (East) on Grand Ave for 1 mile. Turn left on Table Moun­tain Blvd, then a quick right onto Chero­kee Road. Fol­low Chero­kee Road for 6.3 miles to the reserve entrance.

From Chico: Take Hwy 70 South and exit at Grand Ave (Exit 48). Con­tin­ue onto 4^th St, turn left onto Grand Ave, and fol­low the direc­tions above.