Your Summer Survival Guide for Staying Cool in Butte County

Ice Cream, Gela­to, and Paletas

Few things beat a frozen bite on a swel­ter­ing day, and you’ll find no short­age of options this summer.

Fans of a clas­sic scoop should check out Uni­cone Ice Cream & Treats in Oroville or Shubert’s Ice Cream & Can­dy in Chico. For more grownup fla­vors, check out Chico’s Savor Ice Cream for an arti­sanal ice cream flight.

Sweet Chico Con­fec­tions serves up deca­dent gela­to in the heart of Down­town Chico, while La Flor De Michoa­can offers an incred­i­ble range of refresh­ing, non-dairy pale­tas (Mex­i­can pop­si­cles) along­side tra­di­tion­al dairy-based ice creams at mul­ti­ple loca­tions in Chico and Oroville.

Air-Con­di­tioned Taps and Zero-Proof Cocktails

For adult bev­er­ages, flights at Sier­ra Neva­da Brew­ing Co.​’s icon­ic, crisp tap­room are a sum­mer must. You can craft your per­fect flight from their mas­sive line­up of beers on tap, or try one of their pre­mi­um non-alco­holic offerings.

If zero-proof sips are more your scene, craft cock­tail spots like Roselle’s Bar & Lounge, Strong Water, and Crush serve up ded­i­cat­ed mock­tail menus per­fect for a non-alco­holic yet still adult and ele­vat­ed drink­ing experience.

Local Cof­fee and Boba To-Go

If you need an icy pick-me-upper to go, grab an iced cof­fee from local sta­ples like Mug Shots Cof­fee House in Oroville, or Chico’s Tin Roof Bak­ery & Café, Day Camp Cof­fee, and the plant-for­ward Ten­der Lov­ing Cof­fee.

For deli­cious, caf­feine-free alter­na­tives to break up a swel­ter­ing after­noon, local boba shops like Shake Tea, Project Tea, and Boba Tea­Li­cious serve up iced milk teas and fruit infu­sions packed with tapi­o­ca pearls.

Active Indoor Fun and Fam­i­ly Museums

When the sun is blaz­ing, head­ing indoors to a heav­i­ly air-con­di­tioned venue keeps the day moving.

You can lace up for a retro after­noon of roller skat­ing at Cal Skate in Chico, or let the kids burn off ener­gy on the tram­po­lines at Rare Air Tram­po­line Park or Kid­dos Play­place.

Up on the Par­adise Ridge, Par­adise Play­di­um fea­tures a mas­sive mod­ern arcade lay­out, while Gridley’s Back in Time Arcade II offers all-you-can-play fun on Fridays.

For inter­ac­tive learn­ing and tod­dler-friend­ly spaces, the Chico Chil­dren’s Muse­um and the Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um offer hands-on indoor exhibits that keep younger kids entire­ly engaged.

If you pre­fer a more laid-back out­ing, take a leisure­ly stroll through a local muse­um or gallery. The Muse­um of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Art (mon­ca) in Chico fea­tures beau­ti­ful rotat­ing exhibits from region­al artists, while the remote Stir­ling City His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety Muse­um is per­fect for road trip enthu­si­asts look­ing to escape into high­er ele­va­tions (make sure to vis­it the near­by Clotilde Mer­lo Park while you’re up there!). 

If you want a more inti­mate art expe­ri­ence, head to the 1078 Gallery to take in their lat­est micro-exhib­it while sip­ping on an iced cof­fee from Equi­lat­er­al Cof­fee right on-site.

Group Out­ings, Triv­ia, and Evenings Out

Cool­ing off is just more fun with a group. You can try your hand at axe throw­ing at The Hatch­et Hang­out, hit the bowl­ing lanes at Bowlero, or rent a pri­vate room to live out your pop star dreams at Karaōke Tele­vi­sion.

If you want to test your brain­pow­er while stay­ing cool, check out the local triv­ia nights host­ed reg­u­lar­ly at Sto­ble Cof­fee, Ram­ble West Brew­ing, and The Com­mons.

For a qui­eter escape, spend a few hours brows­ing the air-con­di­tioned stacks at The Book­store in Down­town Chico.

Sum­mer Movies and Live Music

Catch­ing a flick on the big screen is the ulti­mate beat-the-heat tra­di­tion. The his­toric Oroville State The­atre fea­tures Sat­ur­day mat­inée show­ings of clas­sic and fam­i­ly-friend­ly movies, while Chico’s inde­pen­dent Pageant The­atre show­cas­es an eccen­tric slate of indie films.

If you pre­fer live per­for­mances after the sun starts going down, you can catch live indoor music at air-con­di­tioned local venues like Lost on Main and Argus Bar + Patio.

Riv­er, Creek, and Pool Swimming

Jump­ing into a nat­ur­al swim­ming hole or float­ing down the riv­er are sum­mer sta­ples for a reason.

Bear Hole in Upper Bid­well Park and The Washout along the Sacra­men­to Riv­er are incred­i­bly pop­u­lar local land­marks for loung­ing and splash­ing around. In Oroville, the sandy shores at River­bend Park are per­fect for get­ting into the cool waters of the Feath­er Riv­er, while the near­by Ther­mal­i­to Fore­bay offers the per­fect calm-water escape to explore on a kayak or stand-up paddleboard.

For struc­tured yet still relaxed pool fun, you can catch an out­door movie right from the water at the pop­u­lar Movies at the Pool nights at Chico’s Pleas­ant Val­ley Pool.

If you have kid­dos who aren’t quite ready for the deep end yet, neigh­bor­hood splash pads are the per­fect place to let them play safe­ly. You can head to Gridley’s Manuel Vier­ra Park to cool off under a mas­sive grove of mature oak trees, vis­it Oroville’s Hewitt Park for gen­tle tod­dler foun­tains and high-blast jets for the big kids, or stop by Chap­man Park in Chico for an easy after­noon of ground-foun­tain play.

Escape to the Mountains

If you want to stay dry but just have to get out­side, escape the val­ley floor entire­ly and head up to Butte Mead­ows. Nes­tled up in the pines, the moun­tain air here is con­sis­tent­ly at least 10 degrees cool­er than the val­ley below.

Spend a few hours explor­ing the shad­ed dirt trails under the canopy, and make sure to stop by the pop­u­lar Bam­bi Inn for a cold drink and a bite to eat before you make the dri­ve back down.

No mat­ter how high the tem­per­a­tures rise, Butte Coun­ty has plen­ty of options to help you stay cool and have fun, so stay safe, beat the heat, and enjoy all that Butte Coun­ty has to offer this summer.