6 August Activities in Butte County

Sum­mer vaca­tion time is run­ning out, though the tem­per­a­tures might say oth­er­wise, and we’re down to our last offi­cial sum­mer month in Butte Coun­ty. August is that per­fect, flex­i­ble time of year where you can either try to cram in every last bit of sum­mer fun pos­si­ble, or sim­ply start catch­ing up on your rest and relax­ation before the school year resumes. Explore or decom­press — there are no wrong answers here, and the Butte Coun­ty area is full of oppor­tu­ni­ties to do both!

The Fore­bay Aquat­ic Cen­ter is offer­ing two guid­ed Full Moon Pad­dles at the Ther­mal­i­to Fore­bay in August. Catch the sun­set and watch the full moon rise over the Fore­bay on Tues­day, ⁸⁄₁ from 8pm-11pm or Wed. ⁸⁄₃₀ from 7:30pm-10:30pm.

Hit the streets for the Car & Bike Show and Stroll in Down­town Oroville on Fri­day, Aug. 18, 2023. Vin­tage car and motor­cy­cles line Myers Street in this free-for-all-ages event that also fea­tures live music and spe­cial offer­ings from select par­tic­i­pat­ing down­town businesses.

What is sum­mer with­out a trip to the coun­ty fair? Once again, Gri­d­ley hosts the Butte Coun­ty Fair, a four-day, some­thing-for-every­one event from August 24 – 27, 2023. Afford­able entry is a license to fill up a day with activ­i­ty, from piglet rac­ing, ani­mal exhibits and live­stock judg­ing to a range of rides rang­ing across a spec­trum of thrills.

And, of course, no coun­ty fair would be com­plete with­out a few culi­nary plea­sures: fun­nel cake, hot dogs, Sno-Cones, and soft pret­zels are all ready to help nail that essen­tial late-sum­mer coun­ty fair vibe. 

Grab a blan­ket or low-back chairs and get ready for Movies in the Park, a sum­mer tra­di­tion host­ed by the Chico Area Recre­ation and Park Dis­trict (CARD). In August, enjoy Top Gun: Mav­er­ick (which fea­tures the Feath­er Riv­er Canyon and Feath­er Fall dur­ing the final dog-fight scene) at Wild­wood Park on Sat., ⁸⁄₂₆, 2023.

The Big Chico Creek Eco­log­i­cal Reserve, under the direc­tion and own­er­ship of the Chico State Research Foun­da­tion, con­tains almost 4,000 acres of canyon and ridge habi­tats for native species of flo­ra and fau­na over 4 ½ miles of Big Chico Creek.

To vis­it the reserve is an exer­cise in won­der­ment: Because of the frag­ile nature of the ecosys­tems being pro­tect­ed here, few recre­ation­al activ­i­ties out­side of nature hikes are allowed. But you’ll cer­tain­ly be grate­ful you brought a cam­era, whether it’s to cap­ture the nat­ur­al scenic beau­ty or to doc­u­ment a rare and spe­cial sight­ing of local wildlife.

It’s a bit of real wilder­ness right here in the area, and in some ways it’s fore­bod­ing: Here in this nat­ur­al set­ting, you tru­ly are a vis­i­tor, and it cre­ates an immense sense of appre­ci­a­tion for the nat­ur­al world around us.

Head­ing up High­way 32 in the sum­mer­time to Butte Mead­ows can yield oppor­tu­ni­ties for fish­ing, hik­ing and camp­ing with­out the heat that comes so nat­u­ral­ly in the val­ley. Just out­side of For­est Ranch up the Deer Creek High­way, the creek itself offers a mul­ti­tude of shad­ed fish­ing and swim­ming spots. Over­look­ing the canyon, the eco­log­i­cal reserve and, clos­er to Chico, Upper Bid­well Park, the dri­ve itself is a breath­tak­ing one.

With a stop in Butte Mead­ows, it’s almost a rite of pas­sage to vis­it the Bam­bi Inn. It’s pret­ty much always open, whether for overnight vis­i­tors, hun­gry passers-through, or locals look­ing for a place to tie one on. 

Whether you’re look­ing for a fam­i­ly-friend­ly way to spend a leisure­ly after­noon or if you’ve got explo­ration in mind, you’ve got plen­ty of cre­ative options this month.