Best Things to Do When It’s Smoky Out in Butte County

When wild­fire smoke set­tles in, you don’t have to set­tle for anoth­er day of screen time at home. Check out these smoke-free indoor spots where kids can run, jump, and burn off energy.

AMain Hob­bies

• What it is: A huge retail hob­by cen­ter in Chico that fea­tures an indoor remote-con­trol track
• Why you should go: If your kids love cars, AMain Hob­bies is a great indoor spot. You can watch skilled local hob­by­ists tune and race minia­ture vehi­cles around the dirt track, or even rent cars and race them around their var­i­ous RC tracks as a whole family.

Back in Time Arcade II

• What it is: A retro gam­ing hub in Gri­d­ley packed with vin­tage cab­i­net games.
• Why you should go: Back in Time Arcade II is a great spot for south-coun­ty fam­i­lies look­ing to escape smoky air. On Fri­day nights, they run a flat-rate admis­sion deal that lets kids play unlim­it­ed clas­sic arcade games, rac­ing sim­u­la­tors, and air hockey.

Chico Escape Rooms

• What it is: Themed indoor puz­zle expe­ri­ences for small teams in Chico.
• Why you should go: Chico Escape Rooms is per­fect for old­er kids, teens, and adults who want a shared chal­lenge that requires focus instead of phys­i­cal run­ning. Your group gets locked in a ful­ly cli­mate-con­trolled, themed room to hunt for hid­den keys, decode secret mes­sages, and solve a mys­tery before the count­down ends.

FunLand/​Cal Skate

• What it is: A clas­sic local roller skat­ing rink in Chico.
• Why you should go: When bad air can­cels out­door sports, FunLand/​Cal Skate offers a giant, indoor floor away from the smoke. Fam­i­lies can lace up for a retro after­noon of roller skat­ing or inline skat­ing, com­plete with a great sound sys­tem, arcade games, and stan­dard snack bar treats.

Kid­dos Playplace

• What it is: An indoor enter­tain­ment cen­ter in Chico built for children.
• Why you should go: Designed for kids 13 and under but open to all ages, Kid­dos Play­place fea­tures soft climb­ing struc­tures, ball pits, a vari­ety of slide setups, and sen­so­ry toys, plus a large arcade and par­ty room.

Par­adise Playdium

• What it is: A mod­ern fam­i­ly enter­tain­ment cen­ter on Par­adise Ridge.
• Why you should go: Par­adise Play­di­um com­bines a mas­sive mod­ern arcade cen­ter with vir­tu­al real­i­ty expe­ri­ences, axe throw­ing, and an indoor laser tag are­na, giv­ing kids a way to run com­pet­i­tive games out of the smoky weather.

Rare Air Tram­po­line Park

• What it is: An indoor tram­po­line park in Chico where you can jump, swing, and flip.
• Why you should go: Rare Air Tram­po­line Park is the ulti­mate ener­gy burn­er for school-aged kids and teenagers who need high-inten­si­ty move­ment on high-AQI days. Fea­tures a main jump court, airbag pits, slam dunk court, and dodge­ball arena.

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If you’re look­ing for indoor spots that are a lit­tle more mel­low or focused on learn­ing and dis­cov­ery, we’ve got you cov­ered. These are some of our favorite kid-friend­ly places for indoor dis­cov­ery and edu-tain­ing experiences.

Chico Chil­dren’s Museum

• Best For: Tod­dlers through ear­ly ele­men­tary students.
• Why you should go: The Chico Children’s Muse­um lets small chil­dren play freely and safe­ly indoors. The muse­um is built for hands-on explo­ration, fea­tur­ing a kid-sized town com­plete with a gro­cery store, a vet clin­ic, a giant indoor tree­house, and spe­cial­ized sen­so­ry rooms.

Chico Creek Nature Center

• What it is: An indoor nature cen­ter that brings the best of Bid­well Park inside.
• Why you should go: At the Chico Creek Nature Cen­ter, kids can stay con­nect­ed to the out­doors while safe­ly inside. Younger kids will espe­cial­ly love the Janeece Webb Liv­ing Ani­mal Museum,where they can get up close with over 50 liv­ing ani­mals, includ­ing native tur­tles, tor­tois­es, hawks, and lizards.

Gate­way Sci­ence Museum

• Best for: Curi­ous kids, young builders, and mid­dle schoolers.
• Why you should go: Locat­ed a short walk away from Chico State, the Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um is a clean-air refuge where kids can explore a rotat­ing slate of hands-on exhibits and study native fossils.

Local Pub­lic Libraries

• What it is: Reli­able and free com­mu­ni­ty hubs in Chico, Oroville, Par­adise, Gri­d­ley, Big­gs, and Durham
• Why you should go: Beyond clean air and rows of books, the Butte Coun­ty Pub­lic Library branch­es run a vari­ety of struc­tured indoor pro­grams, includ­ing tod­dler sto­ry hours, fam­i­ly friend­ly movie show­ings, and craft­ing sessions.

Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Center

• Best for: Learn­ing about the Oroville’s roles in the State Water Project with­out step­ping outside.
• Why you should go: The Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Cen­ter cen­ter allows you to bring the out­door sto­ry of the reser­voir inside. Use the indoor the­ater rooms to watch his­tor­i­cal films about the dam con­struc­tion or mon­i­tor the lake via live video feeds (and then return on a clear day to take in the views from the 360-degree view­ing tower).

Muse­um of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Art (mon­ca)

• The Vibe: A spa­cious, qui­et art gallery in Chico ded­i­cat­ed to North State artists.
• Why you should go: Housed inside the his­toric Vet­er­ans Memo­r­i­al Hall, the Muse­um of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Art pro­vides a calm, wide-open lay­out per­fect for a low-stress stroller walk away from smoky air. The wide, uncrowd­ed gallery fea­tures reg­u­lar rota­tions of region­al paint­ing and sculpture.

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For­get about smoky air with an epic block­buster or live per­for­mance at one of these local stages, where the movies are trans­port­ing and the sound top-tier.

Cin­e­mark Tin­sel­town 14 & Feath­er Riv­er Cinemas

• The set­up: Large com­mer­cial mul­ti­plex­es with high-capac­i­ty air filtration.
• The show: Cin­e­mark Tin­sel­town 14 in Chico and Feath­er Riv­er Cinemas in Oroville are your reli­able stops for morn­ing mati­nees or evening view­ings of the lat­est block­busters with com­fort­able seat­ing and fresh popcorn.

Live Music Venues

• Argus Bar + Patio: A Chico favorite Known for cozy, smoke-free indoor seat­ing paired with top-tier craft cocktails.
• The Break­beat: An immer­sive Down­town Chico venue pair­ing elec­tron­ic artists and tour­ing musi­cians with a world-class L‑Acoustics spa­tial audio set­up that places the audi­ence direct­ly inside the sound.
  
• Lost on Main (Chico): A Down­town Chico indoor venue host­ing tour­ing artists, diverse bands, DJs, and top local tal­ent with deli­cious hand­craft­ed drinks.
• Sier­ra Neva­da Big Room (Chico): A din­ner the­ater stage that has a great floor for danc­ing and hosts nation­al musi­cal acts right next door to the Sier­ra Neva­da Tap­room restaurant.
• The Tack­le Box (Chico): A honky tonk bar fea­tur­ing reg­u­lar indoor acoustic sets, coun­try bands, and hearty food plat­ters, includ­ing their fried alligator

Oroville State Theater

• The set­up: A his­toric land­mark the­ater in the cen­ter of Down­town Oroville.
• The show: Check the sched­ule at the Oroville State The­ater for spe­cial Sat­ur­day mati­nees fea­tur­ing fam­i­ly favorites and oth­er kid-friend­ly events.

Pageant The­atre

• The set­up: Chico’s his­toric inde­pen­dent art-house cinema.
• The show: Grab a seat at the Pageant The­atre for an inde­pen­dent film, local doc­u­men­tary, and unique fes­ti­val favorites you can’t find at a stan­dard multiplex.

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Adults also need a smoke-free escape to pre­serve their san­i­ty dur­ing pro­longed peri­ods of smoke, and these spots are per­fect for clean indoor air and fun vibes.

The Hatch­et Hangout

• The draw: A ded­i­cat­ed indoor axe-throw­ing hall and full-swing golf sim­u­la­tor in Chico
• Group Pick: Book a pri­vate throw­ing lane or a dig­i­tal golf ses­sion at The Hatch­et Hang­out to escape the heavy out­door air with your besties for the per­fect way to beat cab­in fever.

Karaōke Tele­vi­sion

• The draw: Pri­vate rooms avail­able by the hour in Chico.
• Group pick: Karaōke Tele­vi­sion is the best choice for small groups who want a ded­i­cat­ed hang­out space. Sing your favorite songs with your friends with­out hav­ing to per­form for a full bar of strangers.

Live Indoor Triv­ia Nights

• The Com­mons Social Empo­ri­um (Chico): Com­pet­i­tive week­ly triv­ia rounds, craft beer taps, and fresh pizza.
• Dis­cov­ery Bar & Kitchen (Chico): Week­ly triv­ia nights at an inclu­sive and wel­com­ing bar serv­ing up deli­cious com­fort food
• Ram­ble West Brew­ing (Chico): Match­es inde­pen­dent craft beer pours with week­ly team triv­ia inside a spa­cious indoor taproom.
• Sto­ble Cof­fee (Chico): Hosts spe­cial themed triv­ia nights with a great din­ner menu.

Lucky Strike

• The draw: A mod­ern bowl­ing cen­ter in Chico with updat­ed lanes and an attached arcade room.
• Group pick: At Lucky Strike, gath­er your crew to share a lane, order a cou­ple of food plat­ters, and run a low-pres­sure bowl­ing tour­na­ment insu­lat­ed from the out­side conditions.

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We know deal­ing with wild­fire smoke can take a heavy toll on your mind and body, so clear your head and reset at one of our favorite self-care spots.

True Rest Float Spa (Chico): Step into a pri­vate float cap­sule filled with Epsom salt water heat­ed to your skin tem­per­a­ture. It removes all out­side noise, allow­ing you to float weight­less­ly and give your ner­vous sys­tem a com­plete break.

Per­spire Sauna Studio (Chico): Book a pri­vate infrared sauna room to tar­get deep mus­cle ten­sion, unwind, and clear your skin after spend­ing days around low-qual­i­ty air.

Crown Care Spa (Chico): Focus­es specif­i­cal­ly on reliev­ing neck, shoul­der, and head ten­sion through spe­cial­ized scalp treat­ments and deep relax­ation head massages.

Enchant­ed Beau­ty Lounge (Chico): Treat your­self to a deep hair con­di­tion­ing indoor and ther­a­peu­tic scalp treat­ment inside a qui­et, com­fort­able salon environment.

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