Chico/Paradise/Lake Oroville: off-the-grid camping spots to recommend?

November 21, 2014 9:10 PM

Hi folks, we have a tradition (this is year six!) that every Thanksgiving we take our boys camping (and cooking) over the holiday break. It's been an awesome tradition, and we've recently relocated to the Bay Area from SoCal and are looking forward to the first year of a new range for our Thankscamping. Your insight about the area would be very helpful!

We're driving up to the town where my partner lived when he was a little dude--Paradise, CA--next week, so we're going to focus on that region with a bit of leeway (e.g. we're not looking to make this into a High Sierras trip, we kinda want to stick close to Chico/Paradise/Lake Oroville). We know about all the wonderful National and State parks and recreation areas and whatnot, but we'd like to find places to camp that might be a little off the beaten path. We used to do this sort of thing all the time at our haunts down south (lots of random fields and dirt side roads leading to creeksides in the mountains near Ojai), but we don't have any connections up here yet who can give us the details on the non-KOA/big park places that people go to put up a tent and park a Westfalia.

We're also curious about any interesting non-camping places to stay in the area should the weather get dicey. Kitschy motels are a favorite, but who knows in the era of AirBNB and the like. We're open to anything and love looking at places people suggest to us.

Any ideas, stories, leads, or suggestions you folks can offer would be much appreciated!

posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel to Travel & Transportation around Paradise, CA (3 answers total)

Best answer: Since this is a BLM campground, you may already know of it, but The Forks of the Butte is a primitive camping area on Butte Creek a bit north of Paradise. I've never camped there, but was up there last summer for a picnic and it is rugged and picturesque. You have to drive several miles of dirt road to get there. It was pretty crowded on my visit--lots of people panning for gold and swimming in the creek--but I don't imagine it would be crowded this time of year.
posted by bricoleur at 7:59 AM on November 22, 2014

Response by poster: Oh cool, thanks, I hadn't heard of that one yet!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:08 PM on November 24, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks bricoleur, that spot was fantastic. We also had no trouble camping at Lime Saddle on Lake Oroville, which wasn't full but simply couldn't be reserved on short notice. We were the only people in the entire park other than the camp host there.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:48 AM on December 1, 2014