The Best Wheelchair-Accessible Destinations in Butte County, California

Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

The Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in Gri­d­ley is a large, seclud­ed haven, sup­port­ing a thriv­ing wet­lands ecosys­tem. It’s a favorite bird­watch­ing des­ti­na­tion and stun­ning near the begin­ning and end of the day. The area opens at sun­rise and clos­es at sun­set daily.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: Begin­ning from Park­ing Lot #14, a three-mile self-guid­ed dri­ving tour on a com­pact­ed grav­el road allows vis­i­tors to explore the ponds and fields with­out leav­ing the vehi­cle.

A bar­ri­er-free fish­ing and obser­va­tion pier stretch­es over a sea­son­al pond adja­cent to Park­ing Lot #14. Sec­tions have been low­ered to expand visibility.

From the pier, fol­low a paved path to the begin­ning of the Wet­lands Dis­cov­ery Trail, which has lit­tle to no ele­va­tion change as it bor­ders the pond spo­rad­i­cal­ly lined with trees. For less than half a mile, this trail is smooth­ly paved. Grab the map at the trail­head to learn more about the num­bered points of inter­est along the way and to see the des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble route. 

A few bench­es with space for wheel­chairs are on a paved sec­tion next to the trail at site #3. The pave­ment ends a lit­tle past #9, where there is an ADA ele­vat­ed plat­form with a bench and two spot­ting scopes over­look­ing the pond.

Vis­i­tors with pow­er assis­tance or adap­ta­tions may want to com­plete the 0.85-mile Wet­lands Dis­cov­ery Trail loop by con­tin­u­ing the hike on the nat­ur­al ter­rain por­tion made of packed dirt and crushed rock to see sites #8, #10, #11, and #12. Oth­er­wise, hik­ers are advised to return on the same route to the park­ing lot.

Per­haps the grand­est view in Butte Coun­ty is the Butte Creek Water­shed Over­look in Par­adise. The panoram­ic land­scape of the canyon and its sur­round­ings is par­tic­u­lar­ly pic­turesque around sun­rise and sun­set, but beau­ti­ful regard­less of the time of day.

While in Par­adise, indulge your sweet tooth at Joy Lyn’s Can­dies, known as the county’s best choco­late; acces­si­ble park­ing is next to a ramp lead­ing to the one-sto­ry shop. And if you’re look­ing to enjoy smooth sips, scenic views, and guid­ed tours, try the inclu­sive, bar­ri­er-free set­ting of Burnt Barn Dis­till­ing Co.

At Bille Park, you’ll find acces­si­ble pic­nic areas, shad­ed seat­ing, and scenic over­looks with views of Butte Creek Canyon. Wheel­chair-acces­si­ble restrooms and park­ing are available. 

The Yel­low­stone Kel­ly Her­itage Trail begins at Par­adise Com­mu­ni­ty Park, where the Par­adise Depot Muse­um is locat­ed, and fol­lows the Sky­way. The low­er sec­tion near the park is more inclu­sive, offer­ing paved path­ways and park­ing, while the upper por­tion has a mix of pave­ment and com­pact dirt trails. The near­est acces­si­ble restrooms are at Par­adise Com­mu­ni­ty Park.

Moth­er Orange Tree

Since 1850, this region has been root­ed in California’s agri­cul­ture, grow­ing olive oil, rice, nuts, and fruits, which makes it a per­fect place to slow down and unwind. By 1863, 75 acres of local orange trees were thriv­ing, spawned from one Moth­er Orange Tree, still alive in Oroville and man­aged by Cal­i­for­nia State Parks. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: A short, paved path leads from one of the two acces­si­ble park­ing spots to a pic­nic table over­look­ing the gat­ed tree, with two all-gen­der restrooms locat­ed along the way.

Oroville Green­line Tour

The Oroville Green­line Tour, a 15-mile self-dri­ving route to many scenic spots, is par­tic­u­lar­ly allur­ing in the spring and fall. As you explore as many of the 14 stops as you’d like, you should stop in the coun­try-chic Down­town Oroville for shop­ping and din­ing, which spans sev­er­al flat blocks.

Feath­er Riv­er Hatchery

The Feath­er Riv­er Fish Hatch­ery was estab­lished when Oroville Dam was con­struct­ed to assist the migra­tion and spawn­ing of local salmon and trout, now inte­gral to the river’s healthy ecosys­tem. With view­ing win­dows and a great view of the riv­er, it’s a won­der­ful spot for kids and families. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: Two sep­a­rate park­ing areas pro­vide access to Hatch­ery facil­i­ties: one east and one west of Table Moun­tain Boulevard.

From the east­ern acces­si­ble park­ing spaces (clos­er to the bridge), a paved path­way with handrails winds down to the over­look for the Feath­er River’s fish bar­ri­er dam; a slight­ly sloped, short adja­cent path veers to the fish lad­der view­ing window.

The park­ing lot on the west side of Table Moun­tain Boule­vard con­sists of the spawn­ing room and hatch­ery fish-rear­ing ponds, along with acces­si­ble park­ing and restrooms.

Oroville Dam

The Oroville Dam, a part of the Lake Oroville State Recre­ation Area, is a pop­u­lar land­mark on this tour route. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: A paved road par­al­lels a path over the dam for a mile with­out shade and in the force of the wind; des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble spots are in the park­ing lot. 

Lake Oroville Vis­i­tors Center

Just a few min­utes fur­ther up the road on the hill­side is the Lake Oroville Vis­i­tor Cen­ter. Man­aged by Cal­i­for­nia Depart­ment of Water Resources, the vis­i­tor cen­ter details the the cre­ation of the Oroville Dam as well as the region’s agri­cul­tur­al his­to­ry (includ­ing a plant­i­ng of one of the ear­li­est Moth­er Orange Tree cul­ti­va­tions), the impact of the gold min­ing indus­try, and a brief his­to­ry of the ancient Maidu peo­ple. The Maidu sto­ry is a cap­ti­vat­ing one, from their cul­tur­al and spir­i­tu­al his­to­ry to the pet­ro­glyphs and grind­ing rocks they left behind. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: From the des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble park­ing spots, a paved path takes vis­i­tors past these attrac­tions to a shad­ed court­yard with mod­i­fied restrooms and drink­ing foun­tains; one table in the pic­nic area is mod­i­fied with an extend­ed end to be more inclusive.

Push-but­ton, auto­mat­ic doors open into the muse­um with a few exhib­it rooms and a large movie the­ater equipped with wheel­chair seating.

The 360-degree view­ing tow­er is only acces­si­ble via a flight of stairs, but a joy­stick-oper­at­ed tele­scope inside the muse­um enables any­one to con­trol a view from the surroundings.

Oroville’s Table Moun­tain Bridge

The his­toric Table Moun­tain Bridge, also referred to by locals as sim­ply the Green Bridge, cross­es the Feath­er Riv­er near the hatch­ery, and is an icon­ic land­mark in Oroville. Orig­i­nal­ly opened to vehi­cles, it is now pedestrian-only.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: Cur­rent­ly, the south entrance of the hatch­ery (near The Boss Burg­er) has been made more acces­si­ble, con­sist­ing of a flat­ter and smoother entrance onto the bridge.

The north entrance, with park­ing at the hatch­ery, requires trav­el­ing up and down a steep hill and over cracked pavement.

Those want­i­ng to access the south entrance can park at the Vet­er­ans Memo­r­i­al Park, just on the oth­er side of The Boss Burg­er, where there are two acces­si­ble park­ing spaces.

Feath­er Riv­er Bike Trail

The 3.2‑mile, dog-friend­ly Feath­er Riv­er Bike Trail offers an acces­si­ble route to see a vari­ety of scenic spots along the Feath­er Riv­er. Start­ing from the Green Bridge and trav­el­ing all the way to River­bend Park, you can make stops at Cen­ten­ni­al Plaza, the his­toric Oroville Chi­nese Tem­ple, and Bedrock Park. The his­toric Feath­er Riv­er Nature Cen­ter and Native Plant Park across the riv­er from the hatch­ery is also worth adding to your visit.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The Feath­er Riv­er Bike Trail is large­ly flat and com­plete­ly paved.

At River­bend Park, you’ll find a cov­ered pic­nic table area on a paved plat­form and restrooms.

Bid­well Bar Sus­pen­sion Bridge

At Lake Oroville, the His­toric Bid­well Bar Sus­pen­sion Bridge — California’s old­est sus­pen­sion bridge, built in 1855 — is today open to pedes­tri­ans only to access the Wyk Island Loop and is adja­cent to the bridge is the his­toric Bid­well Bar Tollhouse.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The His­toric Bid­well Bar Sus­pen­sion Bridge fea­tures a smooth, paved walk­way suit­able for wheel­chair users, while the Bid­well Bar Toll­house is acces­si­ble via a short, most­ly lev­el path from the park­ing area.

Wyk Island Loop

Also locat­ed with­in the Lake Oroville State Recre­ation Area and right across the afore­men­tioned bridge, the Wyk Island Loop is a peace­ful, nature-filled trail. The loop sits on a small island acces­si­ble by a short approach near the lake’s south shore.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The com­pact­ed dirt path is rel­a­tive­ly flat and man­age­able for many wheel­chair users, espe­cial­ly in dry con­di­tions. One ADA park­ing spot is near the trail­head at the east end of the park­ing lot and anoth­er six are in front of the bath­room near the boat launch ramp. Out­side of peak trav­el times, the rest of the park­ing lot stays rel­a­tive­ly open.

Rat­tlesnake Hill Trail

For anoth­er peace­ful path with expan­sive views just west of Oroville, the Rat­tlesnake Hill Trail offers a scenic, acces­si­ble stroll above the North Ther­mal­i­to Fore­bay. Coil­ing around the hill­side, this 1.2‑mile loop con­nects to the Brad Free­man Trail, mak­ing it a pop­u­lar stop for walk­ers, cyclists, and wheel­chair users alike. A bench at the hill­top offers sweep­ing views of Table Moun­tain, Oroville, and the shim­mer­ing Fore­bay waters. 

Open year-round; a park­ing fee is required, or you can use a Cal­i­for­nia State Parks annu­al vehi­cle pass for entry.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The Rat­tlesnake Hill Trail is com­plete­ly paved.

Chico Seed Orchard

An impor­tant part of the agri­cul­tur­al par­adise of Butte Coun­ty is the Chico Seed Orchard, man­aged by the Men­do­ci­no Nation­al Forest.

Known local­ly as ​“the Tree Farm,” the land is cru­cial for refor­esta­tion, includ­ing wild­fire recov­ery, water­shed restora­tion, as well as ripar­i­an habi­tat for threat­ened and endan­gered species. 

A one-mile trail winds through the orchard, pass­ing a bam­boo tree for­est, a gen­tly flow­ing creek, and sev­er­al pic­turesque bridges that enhance the nat­ur­al surroundings. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The trail sur­face is firm, most­ly lev­el, and entire­ly paved around the loop, with edu­ca­tion­al signs along the way and some well-main­tained grav­el side paths.

One van-friend­ly, acces­si­ble park­ing spot is at the park’s main gate next to the pedes­tri­an gate. The turn­ing radius may be too nar­row for some pow­er wheel­chairs to maneu­ver past.

The main gate is open dur­ing the week, allow­ing vis­i­tors to dri­ve to the oth­er trail­head near the nature cen­ter with two des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble park­ing spots, one of which is van-friend­ly. Though ADA park­ing is lim­it­ed, spots are usu­al­ly avail­able through­out the year, except dur­ing the height of the fall foliage view­ing sea­son when vis­i­ta­tion is at its peak.

Low­er Bid­well Park

Low­er Bid­well Park is cen­tral­ly locat­ed in Chico with miles of mul­ti-use paved trails that trav­el along and over an end­less bab­bling creek among tow­er­ing Sycamore, Oak, and Wal­nut Trees. 

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The shad­ed trail is pri­mar­i­ly flat and marked with dis­tance loop signs. 

Acces­si­ble park­ing and bar­ri­er-free pic­nic tables are sporadic.

The best acces­si­ble restrooms are locat­ed at the One Mile Recre­ation Area, the Cedar Grove Pic­nic Area, and the Chico Creek Nature Cen­ter.

Down­town Chico

Besides being a col­lege town, Chico is an inclu­sive and wel­com­ing place that fea­tures a robust col­lec­tion of local leisure attrac­tions. A favorite is the Sat­ur­day Chico Cer­ti­fied Farm­ers Mar­ket, even for those only brows­ing. Come to get a cof­fee and get lift­ed up by the community’s col­ors and culture. 

Or sup­port small busi­ness­es by shop­ping, din­ing, and drink­ing in Down­town Chico at stores with home­grown goods, like Made in Chico. Col­or­ful murals occa­sion­al­ly cov­er build­ing walls, mak­ing strolling down­town per­fect for a leisure­ly afternoon.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: The park­ing lot in front of Madi­son Bear Gar­den at W. 2^nd St. and Salem St. as well as the ​“Farm­ers Mar­ket Park­ing lot” at E. 2^nd St. and Wall St. are the best places for des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble spots.

Addi­tion­al ADA park­ing is avail­able in the Chico Park­ing Garage at W. 3^rd and Salem St. Acces­si­ble park­ing spaces and pub­lic trans­porta­tion are avail­able at no charge. 

Find more infor­ma­tion about get­ting to and around Down­town Chico here.

Chico State Museums

Locat­ed in the greater down­town area, the Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um and the Valene L. Smith Muse­um of Anthro­pol­o­gy are two must-vis­it Chico State museums.

Both muse­ums have inter­ac­tive exhibits and infor­ma­tion about sci­en­tif­ic dis­cov­er­ies. Locat­ed less than half a mile away from Chico State, the Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um focus­es on kid-friend­ly sci­ence and California’s ecosys­tems, while the Valene L. Smith Muse­um of Anthro­pol­o­gy, locat­ed right on cam­pus, show­cas­es reg­u­lar­ly rotat­ing stu­dent-cre­at­ed dis­plays as well as the his­to­ry of Indige­nous peo­ple with artifacts.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: Both are acces­si­ble with wide path­ways, auto­mat­ic doors, restrooms, and des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble park­ing near­by.

The Gate­way Sci­ence Muse­um is less than a half mile away from Chico State and eas­i­ly acces­si­ble via paved and flat side­walks for an easy 10-minute trip. It also hous­es an out­door bar­ri­er-free route through native plant displays.

Chico Air Museum

While there are a num­ber of intrigu­ing muse­ums in the greater down­town area, trav­el­ing to the city’s out­skirts for the Chico Air Muse­um is worth con­sid­er­ing. Admis­sion is free (dona­tions rec­om­mend­ed) to explore a large col­lec­tion of his­tor­i­cal avi­a­tion displays.

Acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures: Nav­i­gat­ing around the many planes, acces­sories, and doc­u­ments on the museum’s smooth­ly paved floor inside is easy, but the rocky sur­face sur­round­ing the planes out­side may be chal­leng­ing for man­u­al wheelchairs. 

Close to the entrance are two des­ig­nat­ed acces­si­ble park­ing spots, and two large uni­sex restrooms are avail­able inside. 

Update May 2025: Cur­rent­ly, the muse­um is in the site-plan­ning phase for a new enclosed expan­sion in the out­side area, which will be ADA accessible.

Butte Coun­ty is charm­ing, cor­ner to cor­ner. It’s a place where you can taste the Cal­i­for­nia sun­shine and explore the region’s his­toric roots. Unwind and savor mod­ern, inclu­sive coun­try culture.

Roll on to or through Butte Coun­ty, because from val­leys to hill­sides, there’s always plen­ty for wheel­chair users to enjoy.