Located just downstream from the Feather River Fish Hatchery, the Table Mountain Bridge is a dedicated pedestrian and bicycle path running parallel to Table Mountain Boulevard.
Originally built in 1907 to carry vehicle traffic across the Feather River, the steel truss bridge now serves as a scenic, car-free walkway. It offers elevated views of the river and the distant mesas of Table Mountain, making it a favorite spot for a morning stroll or an evening walk.
The Oroville Lights Display
After dark, the historic bridge is illuminated with thousands of colorful LED lights. While the bridge features a steady, shifting color display nightly, the riverfront comes alive on weekends and holidays with themed light shows.
The display provides a scenic backdrop to the riverfront, whether you are walking across the steel spans to see the colors up close, looking across the water after dinner downtown, or relaxing in a lawn chair by the riverbank to watch a weekend show.
To check the current schedule and special holiday themes, you can visit the official project site at Oroville Lights.
A Brief History of the Bridge
The history of building bridges across this specific stretch of the Feather River is essentially a history of surviving floods. Long before the Oroville Dam was built to control the river’s flow, a wooden covered bridge stood at this site in 1870, but it was completely destroyed by a massive flood in early 1907.
Later that same year, workers raised the current 665-foot steel “camelback” truss bridge to take its place. The engineering proved its worth in October 1962, when a historic autumn flood entirely submerged the bridge under rushing water, but the steel structure held strong without taking any damage.
When a modern concrete bridge was built next to it in 1982 to handle highway traffic, the city preserved the historic 1907 steel landmark exclusively for people to walk, bike, and enjoy.