Oroville: Gilded History, Brighter Future

Today, Oroville stands as an agri­cul­tur­al­ly-focused, spread-out com­mu­ni­ty rich in out­door recre­ation that attracts vis­i­tors from all over the North State. Most of Oroville along High­way 70 is only an exit away from out­door recre­ation, most of it fea­tur­ing easy-rolling hills, nat­ur­al water fea­tures, or scenic hikes. Table Moun­tain, the Ther­mal­i­to Fore­bay and After­bay, and Lake Oroville are the most well-known exam­ples of these.

Famous­ly, the mas­sive Lake Oroville is a haven for water ski­ing, board­ing, swim­ming, and fish­ing enthu­si­asts prac­ti­cal­ly year-round, while the Feath­er Riv­er con­tin­ues to be a scenic beau­ty, mean­der­ing through the coun­ty and pro­vid­ing both seren­i­ty and play oppor­tu­ni­ties for vis­i­tors and residents.

Oroville is also rich in North­ern Cal­i­for­nia tra­di­tion. On top of its gold rush roots, the town of about 19,000 fea­tures a his­toric Chi­nese tem­ple that dates back to the pio­neer era and is list­ed on the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places. Oroville is also nation­al­ly known as the home of Ishi, the last Yahi, con­sid­ered to be the last Native Amer­i­can to join West­ern Civ­i­liza­tion in the ear­ly 1900s. You’ll also find a vari­ety of oth­er his­to­ry-focused muse­ums in and around Down­town Oroville, with the Green­line Tour the best way to expe­ri­ence them all.

Increas­ing­ly, Oroville is gain­ing appeal as a place to live and do busi­ness thanks to urban devel­op­ments and the long-run­ning embrace of its prox­im­i­ty to out­door activ­i­ty. Its his­toric down­town area has under­gone a remark­able ren­o­va­tion in recent years, revi­tal­iz­ing the area with mod­ern bars, restau­rants, local busi­ness­es, and new­er-age hang­outs. And while Oroville doesn’t have a four-year uni­ver­si­ty, the near­by Butte Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege is a gate­way to edu­ca­tion for thou­sands of area stu­dents from all over the region, and a beloved resource for stu­dents of all ages and back­grounds. In the fall, Oroville res­i­dents turn out reg­u­lar­ly for Butte’s peren­ni­al­ly com­pet­i­tive foot­ball team (best known today for being where Aaron Rodgers got his start).

Whether it’s work or play, there is an abun­dance of rea­sons why many call Oroville home, and why it remains one of the county’s top vis­i­tor attrac­tions every year. The gold rush­ers got it right.