Lake Madrone

Lake Madrone is a small but phe­nom­e­nal­ly beau­ti­ful 25-acre lake nes­tled with­in a gat­ed moun­tain com­mu­ni­ty. Locat­ed along Berry Creek just off the Oro-Quin­cy High­way in Oroville, this forest­ed retreat offers a breath­tak­ing escape into the great outdoors.

Any sea­son is ide­al for a vis­it, fea­tur­ing vibrant fall col­ors, serene win­ter snow­falls, spring wild­flow­ers, and sum­mers per­fect for qui­et days by the water.

Who Can Vis­it Lake Madrone?

Lake Madrone is a pri­vate escape pri­mar­i­ly for res­i­dents and those book­ing sea­son­al vaca­tion rentals.

• Vaca­tion Rentals: Diverse homes estab­lished on the forest­ed land around the lake are avail­able for week­end get­aways, week-long retreats, or entire seasons.
• Com­mu­ni­ty Ameni­ties: A pri­vate beach serves the com­mu­ni­ty, host­ing events such as sea­son­al picnics.
• Recre­ation: Swim­ming, boat­ing, and fish­ing are pop­u­lar activ­i­ties allowed on the lake for res­i­dents and their guests.

The His­to­ry of Lake Madrone

Before the Cal­i­for­nia Gold Rush, this region was home to the Maidu peo­ple. Its tran­si­tion into a mod­ern sub­di­vi­sion is a sto­ry of min­ing suc­cess and vision­ary development:

• The Min­ing Boom: In 1850, a trail through the Sier­ra Neva­da moun­tains passed through this area. In the ear­ly 1900s, gold was dis­cov­ered near Berry Creek. The Berry Creek Mine became one of the rich­est in Butte Coun­ty, spark­ing rapid devel­op­ment in the canyon.
• Form­ing the Lake: In 1928, George C. Mans­field con­vinced the state to build a dam across Berry Creek to sup­port the high­way, result­ing in the for­ma­tion of Lake Madrone.
• A Grow­ing Com­mu­ni­ty: By 1929, Mans­field and Dun­can McCal­lum estab­lished the Feath­er Riv­er For­est Homes sub­di­vi­sion. Over the fol­low­ing years, they expand­ed the com­mu­ni­ty with the Lake­view and Cas­cade addi­tions, cre­at­ing the unique moun­tain neigh­bor­hood that exists today.