Multiple Cities Outdoor Adventurer

Explore the Feather River Canyon of the Feather River Scenic Byway

March 06, 2024 (Originally published January 12, 2024)
Trains running through the Feather River Canyon

The 60-mile Feath­er Riv­er Canyon of the 130-mile Feath­er Riv­er Scenic Byway trav­els west-east across Butte and Plumas Coun­ties on State High­way 70, fol­low­ing the North Fork of the Feath­er River.

Few Cal­i­for­nia high­ways fea­ture such nat­ur­al beau­ty and diver­si­ty in ter­rain, land­scape, wildlife and ele­va­tion as the Canyon Route. Cas­cad­ing water­falls and wild­flow­ers in the spring and bril­liant col­ors in the fall high­light the canyon’s nat­ur­al beau­ty. The area also show­cas­es the mar­vels of pow­er plant, rail­road and high­way engi­neer­ing between the steep, rugged canyon walls that drop down to the North Fork of the Feath­er Riv­er. The his­toric Pul­ga and Tobin bridges — high­way and rail­road bridges that cross over each oth­er — and three tun­nels blast­ed through gran­ite are among the most fre­quent­ly pho­tographed sites. Sev­en hydro­elec­tric pow­er­hous­es make up the ​“Stair­way of Pow­er” along the riv­er with excel­lent views of the process in action.

If you’re look­ing for a longer adven­ture, enjoy the entire Feath­er Riv­er Scenic Byway, which tra­vers­es Butte, Plumas, and Lassen Coun­ties and will take you along both the North and Mid­dle Forks of the Feath­er Riv­er over 3.5 hours, one way.

Lis­ten Up

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Hik­ing, Kayak­ing, and Fishing

Numer­ous hik­ing trails (includ­ing the Pacif­ic Crest Trail) are accessed in the canyon, while the riv­er pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for gold pan­ning, camp­ing and spring­time raft­ing and kayak­ing. There also are many fish­ing holes along the creeks that inter­sect the river.

White­wa­ter Sea­son­al Recre­ation­al Flows

Recre­ation­al flow releas­es on the North Fork Feath­er Riv­er increase the oppor­tu­ni­ties for white­wa­ter enthu­si­asts, on select week­ends from June to Octo­ber. The small com­mu­ni­ties of Stor­rie, Tobin, Belden, Cari­bou, Twain and Pax­ton offer lodg­ing, camp­ing, con­ve­nience stores and places to eat.

Trains Through the Canyon

If you like trains, his­toric tracks (built in 1906) par­al­lel the high­way through the canyon. You may find your­self nose to nose with the engine and if you are lucky they will give you a blast of the horn. These tracks car­ry trains from east to west (Utah to the coast and Oregon).

Get There

The Feath­er Riv­er Scenic Byway route can be tak­en in either direc­tion. From the west, it starts eight miles north of Oroville on High­way 70, winds through the mag­nif­i­cent Feath­er Riv­er Canyon, fol­low­ing the Mid­dle Fork of the Feath­er Riv­er, con­nects with High­way 89 on through Quin­cy to Blairsden/​Graeagle, resumes as High­way 70 through Por­to­la, drops down onto the east­ern slope of the Sier­ra Neva­da and cuts through the fan­tas­tic expanse of the Sier­ra Valley , the west­ern edge of the Great Basin.