Clotilde Merlo Park

Hid­den in his­toric Stir­ling City, Clotilde Mer­lo Park is a qui­et des­ti­na­tion for any­one seek­ing nat­ur­al beau­ty and tran­quil­i­ty. The park’s metic­u­lous­ly main­tained grounds offer a unique expe­ri­ence that goes beyond a stan­dard pub­lic space.

Play­ful bronze stat­ues appear along the trails, while ded­i­ca­tions and his­toric home­sites scat­tered across the 20-acre prop­er­ty intro­duce vis­i­tors to the ear­ly pio­neers of Stir­ling City.

At an ele­va­tion of 3,500 feet, the park offers a much-need­ed escape from the val­ley heat and is one of the coolest places in the coun­ty for a sum­mer walk.

While there are no tra­di­tion­al play­grounds, the forest­ed atmos­phere and wind­ing board­walks are a nat­ur­al draw for fam­i­lies look­ing for a calm and scenic day out.

The three large ponds are a cen­tral fea­ture, home to res­i­dent ducks and fish that vis­i­tors can feed (fish food is avail­able for pur­chase). The sur­round­ing for­est and orna­men­tal gar­dens also attract a wide vari­ety of but­ter­flies and birds.

Events & Amenities

The park offers sev­er­al small pic­nic spots as well as space for large groups and wed­dings at the out­door chapel.

For those look­ing for a bit of friend­ly com­pe­ti­tion, there is also a boc­ce court and a horse­shoe pit.

Restrooms are locat­ed near the his­toric homesites.

Hours & Park Rules

• Sea­son: Open mid-May through mid-Octo­ber. Check the offi­cial Face­book page for infor­ma­tion on this year’s season.
• Days/​Hours: Thurs­day through Sun­day, 10am – 7pm.
• Group Events: For groups over 15 peo­ple, con­tact the park at (530) 873‑1658.

To pre­serve the peace and beau­ty of the grounds, pets, fish­ing, smok­ing, swim­ming, and wheeled recre­ation (bikes, skate­boards, etc.) are prohibited.

Clotilde Mer­lo Park was ded­i­cat­ed in 1987 by the Har­ry A. Mer­lo Foun­da­tion and is pri­vate­ly owned and operated.

Direc­tions

Stir­ling City is approx­i­mate­ly 45 min­utes from Chico or Oroville and 30 min­utes from Paradise.

• From Chico: Fol­low the Sky­way north through Par­adise and Magalia.
• From Oroville: Take High­way 70 north to High­way 191 (Clark Road). Fol­low Clark Road through Par­adise to the Sky­way intersection.
• From Par­adise: From the inter­sec­tion of Sky­way and Clark Road, con­tin­ue north on Sky­way for 13 miles, pass­ing through Mag­a­lia, De Sabla, and Love­lock. Just before enter­ing Stir­ling City, turn right onto Ret­son Road (look for the Clotilde Mer­lo Park sign). Bear right to stay on Ret­son Road, then bear left at the gat­ed inter­sec­tion with P‑line. The park­ing lot will be on your left.