How to Plan the Perfect Butte County Staycation

Unplug from your dai­ly rou­tine, escape social media noti­fi­ca­tions, and treat your­self to a peace­ful week­end of self-care.

Where to Stay

Book a night at a cozy local bed-and-break­fast or a qui­et down­town inn. Get out of your own house to escape the reminders of dai­ly chores and instant­ly get into a vaca­tion mindset.

The Morn­ing Vibe

Start your day ear­ly with a book and a slow pour-over cof­fee at a relaxed local shop like Day­camp Cof­fee in Chico or Union Cof­fee Club in Oroville. Spend an hour brows­ing the qui­et, air-con­di­tioned stacks at The Book­store in Down­town Chico to pick out your week­end read.

The After­noon Adventure

Head out for a peace­ful walk along the rocky, shad­ed paths of the Yahi Trail in Upper Bid­well Park, or take a qui­et stroll through the serene Chico Seed Orchard. If you want to head up into the foothills, escape to Big Bald Rock out­side of Oroville to hike across the mas­sive gran­ite dome and take in panoram­ic views of the Sier­ra foothills.

The Indul­gent Reset

Lean ful­ly into the vaca­tion head­space by book­ing a ded­i­cat­ed relax­ation ses­sion. Unwind with a deeply restora­tive Kore­an head mas­sage at Crown Care Spa, or book a sen­so­ry-depri­va­tion float ses­sion at True Rest Float Spa to com­plete­ly unplug from the out­side world.

The Evening Unwind

Treat your­self to a pre­mi­um solo din­ner. Sit right at the bar top at Nama Sake Sushi & Restaurant for hand­craft­ed sushi, or grab a patio table at Roselle Bar & Lounge or Argus Bar + Patio for a slow evening of craft cock­tails, local micro­brews, and people-watching.

If you want a fun, inter­ac­tive way to break the ice and poten­tial­ly make some new friends, head over to Dis­cov­ery Bar to catch one of their reg­u­lar week­ly events, like live music, triv­ia nights, or live­ly hap­py hours.

Slow down, skip the cook­ing, sleep in, and enjoy a child-free week­end of great food, local drinks, and romance with­out the air­port hassle.

Where to Stay

Book a night at an upscale bou­tique hotel or an inti­mate local inn. Look for a spot with­in walk­ing dis­tance of a down­town cen­ter so you can leave the car keys behind for the evening.

The Morn­ing Vibe

Sleep in late, then head out for a lazy brunch. Sit down for a casu­al, deli­cious morn­ing at Deja Vu Break­fast Com­pa­ny in Chico, or grab pre­mi­um cof­fee and local pas­tries to enjoy on the beau­ti­ful rooftop patio at Sto­ble Cof­fee.

The After­noon Adventure

Spend a relaxed after­noon wine tast­ing your way across the coun­ty. Sip bou­tique estate vari­etals on the scenic patio at Nascere Vine­yards in Durham, share a wood-fired piz­za along­side a tast­ing flight at Live Vine Vine­yard & Win­ery in Oroville, or take a peace­ful stroll through the beau­ti­ful grounds at Long Creek Win­ery and Ranch.

The Indul­gent Reset

Ele­vate the week­end by book­ing a roman­tic, pam­per­ing spa day togeth­er. Unwind with a relax­ing cou­ples’ mas­sage or a sig­na­ture skin treat­ment at Bub­ble Bar Spa to com­plete­ly check out for a cou­ple of hours.

The Evening Unwind

Get dressed up for a true date night expe­ri­ence. Start with a pre­mi­um, farm-to-table steak din­ner and craft cock­tails at Bur­ban Kitchen in Chico’s Meri­am Park, or enjoy ele­vat­ed Ital­ian din­ing at Crush downtown.

Wrap up the night by shar­ing a qui­et night­cap at Strong Water or watch­ing the sun­set over cock­tails from rooftop bar at Hotel Katerina.

Burn off kid ener­gy, cre­ate last­ing sum­mer mem­o­ries, and keep the fam­i­ly entire­ly enter­tained with­out ever cross­ing the coun­ty line.

Where to Stay

Look for a local hotel that boasts a large, sparkling swim­ming pool. To a kid, a hotel pool is just as excit­ing as a theme park, and it instant­ly turns an ordi­nary week­end into a real vacation.

The Morn­ing Vibe

Fuel up the kids with a fun break­fast by grab­bing giant, clas­sic pas­tries from Tin Roof Bak­ery & Café or hit­ting up a local din­er like Jenn’s Café in Oroville.

The After­noon Adventure

Mix up high-ener­gy indoor play with inter­ac­tive dis­cov­er­ies. Spend a morn­ing explor­ing the Chico Children’s Muse­um for inter­ac­tive, play-for­ward exhibits, or climb inside real air­plane cock­pits at the Chico Air Muse­um.

When the kids need to burn off seri­ous ener­gy, make the short dri­ve up to Par­adise Play­di­um for a com­pet­i­tive round of immer­sive tac­ti­cal laser tag and vir­tu­al real­i­ty games along with arcade favorites like air hockey.

The Indul­gent Reset

Skip the chores and treat the crew to an after­noon of sweet treats. Cus­tomize an arti­sanal flight at Savor Ice Cream, grab a clas­sic hand-scooped cone from Shu­bert’s Ice Cream & Can­dy, or cool off with a trip to Oroville’s pop­u­lar Uni­cone Ice Cream & Treats.

The Evening Unwind

Turn din­ner into an event. Grab New York-style piz­za by the slice from Chico’s Bode­ga Slice Shop or Celestino’s.

For a com­pet­i­tive way to cap off the night, head down to Gri­d­ley on a Fri­day evening to hit Back in Time Arcade II, where a flat $10 cov­er gets the whole fam­i­ly unlim­it­ed retro gam­ing and air hockey.

Final­ly, fin­ish the night under the stars by check­ing out the tele­scopes at the Chico Com­mu­ni­ty Obser­va­to­ry in Upper Bid­well Park.

No mat­ter which itin­er­ary you use for inspi­ra­tion, you have to pro­tect the illu­sion of being a tourist to make it feel like a real vacation:

1. Strict­ly No Chores: Pack an actu­al suit­case. Pre­pare enough clean clothes so you are nev­er tempt­ed to do a load of laun­dry. The dish­es, the lawn, and the vac­u­um­ing will all be there when Mon­day arrives.
2. Turn Off ​“Local Mode”: Order some­thing brand new off the menu at your favorite restau­rant, or com­mit to vis­it­ing a busi­ness you pass by every day but have nev­er actu­al­ly stepped inside.
3. Set an Out-of-Office: Just because you are phys­i­cal­ly near your office or your home desk does­n’t mean you are avail­able. Put your phone on ​“Do Not Dis­turb,” sign out of your email, and pro­tect your time off exact­ly as you would if you had flown out to a resort in Hawaii.