Top 20 Things to Do in Chico According to TripAdvisor

#1 Sier­ra Neva­da Brew­ery Tours & Tastings

The brew­ery that start­ed a craft brew­ery rev­o­lu­tion in the Unit­ed States, Sier­ra Neva­da Brew­ing Co. is a must-vis­it any­time you’re in the area! Even if you’re not a big beer drinker, a tour of the brew­ery is a delight­ful­ly edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ence — and there are more in-depth tours for fanat­ics. You can also skip the tour and head straight to the Tap­room for lunch, flight tast­ing, and of course, some good­ies from the Gift Shop to-go. 

#2 Bid­well Park

Stretch­ing near­ly 11 miles in length with over 3,600 acres, Bid­well Park is the crown jew­el of the city. Divid­ed into two parts, Low­er Bid­well Park offers a flat­ter, more relaxed expe­ri­ence while Upper Bid­well Park serves up more rugged ter­rain and epic views, per­fect for explor­ing on foot, bike, or even horse! With wild­flow­ers in the spring, nat­ur­al swim­ming holes in the sum­mer, gor­geous foliage in the fall, and mild tem­per­a­tures in the win­ter, it’s a per­fect year-round destination.

#3 Chico Cer­ti­fied Farm­ers’ Market

With the fresh­est fruits and veg­eta­bles, local­ly made gifts, fresh baked goods, and more, a stop at the Chico Cer­ti­fied Farm­ers’ Mar­ket is always a great start to any Chico adven­ture! The Sat­ur­day mar­ket in par­tic­u­lar will put you in the mid­dle of the action Down­town, so you can walk to oth­er local shops and restau­rants, but the Wednes­day mar­ket will be just as fun for any mid-week explorations.

#4 The Pageant Theatre

Movie buffs will def­i­nite­ly want to check out the Pageant The­atre, Chico’s only inde­pen­dent movie the­ater that screens art-house films. Fea­tur­ing inde­pen­dent, small-run, or niche movies in an inti­mate set­ting, you’re sure to leave feel­ing inspired, knowl­edge­able, moved — or all at once!

#5 Gate­way Sci­ence Museum

The hands-on, inter­ac­tive Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um encour­ages youth inter­est in sci­ence, tech­nol­o­gy, engi­neer­ing, and math (STEM) con­cepts — but all ages will have fun here! Explore per­ma­nent and rotat­ing exhibits as well as gar­dens out­side that rep­re­sent four dis­tinct eco-regions of North­ern Cal­i­for­nia and get ready to leave know­ing more than when you arrived.

#6 Eighth & Main Antique Center

If you’re look­ing to score some deals or snatch up unique finds, you’ll want to make sure to check out Eighth & Main Antique Cen­ter. With over 3,000 square feet to explore, you’re sure to walk away with great gifts for friends, fam­i­ly, and, of course, yourself!

#7 Chico Air Museum

Locat­ed inside a WWII era hangar, the Chico Air Muse­um is a must for air­plane enthu­si­asts, though any­one who vis­its will find the sights of the air­craft on dis­play — which span near­ly 100 years — impres­sive. With both indoor and out­door air­craft on dis­play (even some that the kids can hop into!), edu­ca­tion­al exhibits, and friend­ly docents, you’ll find a vis­it well worth the trip.

#8 Chico His­to­ry Museum

His­to­ry buffs and first-time vis­i­tors to Chico should check out the small but mighty Chico His­to­ry Muse­um. Housed in the his­toric Andrew Carnegie Library locat­ed in the heart of vibrant down­town Chico, and imme­di­ate­ly adja­cent to the Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty cam­pus, this muse­um hosts a vari­ety of per­ma­nent and rotat­ing exhibits cov­er­ing every­thing from gen­er­al Chico his­to­ry, local Native tribes, region­al agri­cul­ture, and more!

#9 Ori­ent & Flume Art Glass

Since 1972, Ori­ent & Flume Art Glass has been pro­duc­ing high-qual­i­ty hand-blown glass art. While you could go all the way to such famed muse­ums as the Met­ro­pol­i­tan, the Smith­son­ian, or the Corn­ing Glass Muse­um to see their work, we find it much eas­i­er to vis­it at their stu­dio right in Chico. While no longer pro­duced out of the name­sake car­riage house that was locat­ed between Ori­ent Street and Flume Street, you’ll find the qual­i­ty and beau­ty as time­less as ever.

#10 Sil­ver Dol­lar Speedway

The Sil­ver Dol­lar Speed­way is a Fri­day night sta­ple dur­ing the sum­mer. Locat­ed at the Sil­ver Dol­lar Fair­grounds, the high­ly banked quar­ter-mile clay track makes for a fast and fun race for the rac­ers and spec­ta­tors alike, espe­cial­ly when you’re in the packed and rau­cous grand­stands. Whether you’re there for spring car races, mon­ster truck ral­lies, or oth­er spe­cial events, get ready to cheer on!

#11 The Banshee

A Down­town Chico favorite since 2007 that has been fea­tured on Guy Fier­i’s ​“Din­ers, Dri­ve-Ins, and Dives,” The Ban­shee is one of Chico’s best-kept secret. 

With a diverse and eclec­tic menu fea­tur­ing a fusion of Boston-and-South­east Asia influ­ences along with late-night eats and a robust tap menu, The Ban­shee is a favorite for deli­cious-yet-unex­pect­ed com­fort food.

#12 Maisie Jane’s Cal­i­for­nia Sun­shine Products

Fea­tur­ing unique local­ly grown good­ies and gifts, Maisie Jane’s Cal­i­for­nia Sun­shine Prod­ucts are tru­ly local­ly grown, with Maisie Jane Hur­ta­do turn­ing a Future Farm­ers of Amer­i­can project into a thriv­ing busi­ness of man­u­fac­tur­ing spe­cial­ty roast­ed and fla­vored nuts and nut but­ter under the icon­ic Maisie Jane’s brand.

Stop by the Maisie Jane’s Gift Shop for every­thing from creamy cashew but­ters and local hon­ey to gift bas­kets and oth­er local­ly made gifts.

#13 DeGar­mo Park

A local favorite, DeGar­mo Park has it all: a dog park, pic­nic areas, play­ground, base­ball and soc­cer fields, and a walk­ing trail. With all the ameni­ties, you’ll find it a pop­u­lar place most days of the week, espe­cial­ly on the week­ends with youth sports tour­na­ments. Whether you’re local need­ing play space for the kids or need a spot to let the dog off leash dur­ing a road trip, there’s some­thing for every­one at DeGarmo.

#14 Chico Escape Rooms

The per­fect place for a pack of puz­zlers, Chico Escape Rooms is great for groups look­ing to get locked in a themed room for an hour to find clues and solve puz­zles to com­plete your mission.

From fam­i­ly fun to date night to par­ties of all kinds, Chico Escape Rooms and its three themed rooms is a local favorite.

#15 Rare Air Tram­po­line Park

Chico’s tram­po­line park, Rare Air, allows kids of all ages to lit­er­al­ly bounce off the walls.

In the main court, kids can catch air jump­ing, flip­ping, and fly­ing through a matrix of open-jump tram­po­lines. They can also par­tic­i­pate in dodge­ball and bal­ance games and enjoy an airbag pit and slam dunk court. There’s even a des­ig­nat­ed junior court area for the small­est mem­bers of the family.

#16 Butte Creek Eco­log­i­cal Preserve

Locat­ed on 93-acres along the mid­dle sec­tion of Butte Creek, the Butte Creek Eco­log­i­cal Pre­serve includes more than a mile of creek frontage, which allows access to the creek and amaz­ing views of the canyon. The pre­serve is a crit­i­cal habi­tat for Cen­tral Val­ley Spring Run Chi­nook as well as a great place for bird watch­ing opportunities.

#17 Chico Chil­dren’s Museum

Locat­ed in the heart of Down­town Chico, the Chico Chil­dren’s Muse­um (CCM) is the per­fect kid-friend­ly attrac­tion for fam­i­lies of all needs and abil­i­ties. The front half of the muse­um is ded­i­cat­ed to a minia­ture artis­tic repli­ca of Chico, which includes a tree­house and a num­ber of hands-on dra­mat­ic play exhibits, and the oth­er half divid­ed into a sen­so­ry sen­si­tive space and a more con­struc­tive play area.

#18 Bid­well-Sacra­men­to Riv­er State Park

Chico’s share of the Sacra­men­to Riv­er — the largest in the state — shines at the Bid­well-Sacra­men­to Riv­er State Park. Vis­i­tors can get on the water for riv­er tub­ing and boat­ing adven­tures or stay on shore for milder explo­rations, such as pic­nick­ing, hik­ing, and wildlife viewing.

#19 Nation­al Yo-Yo Museum

There is per­haps no more unique-to-Chico loca­tion than the Nation­al Yo-Yo Muse­um. Locat­ed inside local favorite Bird in Hand in Down­town Chico, this muse­um is the bona fide mec­ca of Amer­i­can yo-yo cul­ture. At the muse­um, you can learn about the sport’s his­to­ry, take a pic­ture with ​“Big Yo,” and even enjoy free lessons on Saturdays.

#20 20^th Street Com­mu­ni­ty Park

With 40-acres to explore, 20^th Street Com­mu­ni­ty Park is South Chico’s pre­mier pub­lic recre­ation facil­i­ty. With mul­ti­ple play­grounds, horse­shoe pits, var­i­ous sports courts and fields, and more, you’ll find it bustling with activ­i­ty on any giv­en day.