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Paradise Outdoor Adventurer Boating Fishing Hiking Rafting / Kayaking

Paradise Lake: Picnic in the Pines

June 05, 2026 (Originally published August 09, 2019)
Paradise Lake
Rediscover the Ridge

Par­adise Lake is the post­card pic­ture of a serene forest­ed lake with canoes lazi­ly drift­ing atop glassy water. Sur­round­ed by gor­geous conifer wood­lands, it’s one of the most peace­ful places in Butte Coun­ty to vis­it for a relax­ing pad­dle, a shad­ed pic­nic, or a scenic hike.

There’s plen­ty of room to explore via kayak, canoe, or row­boat on this pris­tine 244-acre reser­voir. If you want to try your hand at catch­ing the big one, don’t for­get to pack your fish­ing pole and a valid license; trout, bass, and perch heav­i­ly pop­u­late these waters, and you’ll find plen­ty of clear, acces­si­ble spots to cast a line right from the shore.

After your adven­ture on the water, the shad­ed day-use area is a won­der­ful spot to gath­er with fam­i­ly and friends. The kids can burn off ener­gy on the shore­line play­ground, and there is a horse­shoe pit avail­able for a lit­tle friend­ly competition.

For larg­er gath­er­ings, sev­er­al group pic­nic spots and a scenic gaze­bo are avail­able to reserve through Par­adise Recre­ation and Parks Dis­trict (PRPD).

Hours, Fees & Water Protections

  • Hours: The lake is open dai­ly, except for Wednes­days, from 5am to sunset.
  • Park­ing: $3, cash only
  • Boat launch: $10 ( includes parking)

Par­adise Lake serves as a vital drink­ing water sup­ply for the Ridge, so strict zero-body-con­tact pro­tec­tions are in place to keep the water­shed pris­tine, mean­ing swim­ming, wad­ing, pad­dle­board­ing, and pets are com­plete­ly prohibited.

Hike Par­adise Lake

For some of the best views of the water, take a stroll on the easy trail along the shoreline.

Because the path is flat, wide, and well-main­tained under a deep canopy of shade, it’s an ide­al route for casu­al walks, trail run­ning, fam­i­ly bike rides, and young or inex­pe­ri­enced hik­ers. While the full out-and-back trek is a 9‑mile round trip, the beau­ty of this trail is that you can eas­i­ly turn around at any point.

The forest­ed path offers beau­ti­ful fall col­ors late in the year, and it’s an excel­lent loca­tion for spot­ting local wildlife like black-tailed deer, var­i­ous water­birds, fish break­ing the glassy sur­face of the lake, and even bald eagles or the occa­sion­al bear.

Just remem­ber to leave the fam­i­ly dog at home, as pets are not allowed any­where on the property.

Key Info

Trail Dif­fi­cul­ty: Easy

Trail Length & Type: 9 miles out-and-back

Best Used: Acces­si­ble year-round

Dogs: Not allowed

Trail Map: PRPD Map

Paradise Lake: Picnic in the Pines

Direc­tions

From either Chico or Oroville, it takes around 40 min­utes to get to Par­adise Lake.

  • From the South (via Oroville): Take High­way 70 north past the City of Oroville, keep­ing right at the High­way 70/​Highway 149 split. After six miles, turn left onto Pentz Road, which will take you on a scenic route up through the Town of Par­adise. After 11 miles, Pentz Road ends at the inter­sec­tion with the Skyway.
  • From the West (via Chico): From High­way 99, take Exit 383 for the Sky­way east. Fol­low the Sky­way up the ridge through the Town of Par­adise for 15 miles until you reach the inter­sec­tion with Pentz Road. Dri­ve with care and watch your speed as you trav­el through town!
  • To the Pic­nic Area & Trail­head: From the Sky­way and Pentz Road inter­sec­tion, con­tin­ue up the hill on the Sky­way for one mile, then turn right onto Couto­lenc Road as you enter Mag­a­lia. Fol­low Couto­lenc Road for 3 miles, turn left onto Lucre­cia Road, and fol­low it until it dead-ends at the Par­adise Lake pic­nic area park­ing lot.
  • To the North­ern Boat Ramps: Instead of turn­ing onto Lucre­cia Road, con­tin­ue north on Couto­lenc Road for an addi­tion­al two miles, then turn left onto North Lake Road to reach the launches.