lake oroville state recreation area

Well DWR needs to keep the water in the lake. It is a mud puddle right now. It is sad to see the lake so low.

Sorry we have no water for you this year, visitors, but come back some time when we do and you'll love our lake as much as we do! Want to swim? Go to Loafer Creek, a superb swimming and picnic area, Foreman Creek, an undeveloped swimming and launch area, or the Stringtown launch ramp. You can also swim at the bridge at the Bidwell launch area. Like to hike? The level trail from Saddle Dam to Bidwell marina is nice as are the trails around the visitor center. Dozens of locals walk the dam top daily, it has a great view of both the lake and the valley. You can mountain bike, ride your horse, fish, exercise your dog, and participate in water activities like fishing, tubing, and whatnot. There are secret places the locals like that I'm not going to share, too. You are welcome in our town and especially welcome at our lake!

This is a great place for family time. The visitor center has lots of movies and great exhibits. The staff is always friendly and there is a great view after you have climbed four flights of stairs to the observation tower...the whole valley opens up on a clear day. The dam is a great place to walk, skate, jog or bike ride. There are several marinas and miles of shore line, bridges and even Feather Falls to view.Lots of campgrounds and a lovely swimming beach.

We visited the Lake Oroville, but they do not have any fisihing or swimming there. If you have your own boat you can take it into the water and have fun, otherwise you need to rent a boat wich is very expensive. One day rental costs $ 350 and up. I rather go to Lake Folsom to have fun on the lake.

Visited Lake Oroville, camped in the Loafer Creek group camping area and rented a party boat for a day over Labor Day. Great campsite with amazing facilities and the party boat was worth every penny! Highly recommend making the trip to Oroville.

Lake Oroville is a great place to spend the day. Bring your fishing, boating, water ski, or swimming supplies and enjoy the day on the lake.

We planned to enjoy the lake. Unfortunately, it is a (speed)boat lake. No beaches, no swimming. The dam itself is impressive, no doubt. We had our bathing at the Thermalite reservoir. OK but nothing special.

Today was not a good day for me fishing as I caught only one small bass. Other bass boats reported nothing too but at the dock, one fellow showed me a phone photo of a estimated 10 pouind largemouth...heck of a fish.Anyway, this is a great lake for fishing, boating, house boating...the water level is really low now and dropping as it's been a very dry but hot year in California. That should push the fish closer together but that was not the case today. Still any day on Oroville is a good day...and today I saw to wild goats --first time ever.

We visited the Oroville Dam and Visitors Centre.The Dam blocks the flow of water in the Feather River and which creates a beautiful lake which is used for various forms of water activity. The surrounding countryside is made up of forest and the distant backdrop is the Sierra mountains whose remain covered in snow.The dam was once the largest earth dam in the World, a claim which is now meant to be surpassed by a structure in China. That apart, the dam is massive. The overflow slipway is so large and powerful, that when it is open it is meant to create mist clouds on the road on the far side of the valley.To allow visitors to fully appreciate the lake and dam a Visitors Center has been provided. This includes museum showing how the dam was built, the gold prospecting history of the river before the dam was built and the history of a native American who came out of the wilderness in the early 20th century and was treated as a "research item" before he died prematurely.The Center also has a viewing tower which allows you to see across the main lake across to the isthmus of the entering river.On the flow side of the dam, rather than the lake side there is Salmon stairs which allow the fish to swim in pens so that they can be "milked" of their eggs. The eggs are then placed in a hatchery for farming and many are returned to nature.

We rented a fantastic houseboat here for a week and had a wonderful family vacation! 7 of us on board included 2 teen boys, 2 tween gals & 3 adults who all had a fun relaxing time. Water is chilly in the am as expected, but by afternoon is super refreshing! The kids fished a bunch and played from sun-up to sun-down in the water. We even beached at one point to have a fire & do s'mores. Great little hide-aways everywhere so we never had more then one other houseboat near us. Very cool camping spots in the zmiddle of the lake too, they are on pontoons and have kitchens & bathrooms and probably accommodate up to 15 people (big). Great fun was had by all!

Before I started visiting I hadn't heard much about Lake Oroville. It's about 3 hours from the Bay Area and it's a surprisingly nice area. The lake is really big and even with the tourists and houseboats, it seems to accommodate everyone without feeling overly crowded even on weekends. Except for the town which is nothing special and a couple of Native American casinos, it feels pretty rural. I am lucky enough to have friends here who have a ski boat. I'm not sure what it would cost to rent a ski boat or like many, rent a houseboat for a few days.

family place, I definitly recomend for everyone that want some peace and recreation, the lake and the scenery is beautiful

There is something for everyone here. Great Fishing, Boating, Hiking trails and Camping along with one marina filled with house boats and a nice bar/ restaurant. This is a big lake with many things to do or you can have picnic by the water then lay around and do nothing. The bad part is that half the water from this lake is sent to Los Ageles and Southern Calif. The local Farmers depend on it to water their crops also. This causes some very low lake levels by the middle of summer. But then no one wants those swimming pools in Southern Calif. to go without water.

We love this Lake!!!! Can't say enough about the lack of boats and people on this lake during the weekends. We love to waterski and usually only have the weekends to do so. All of our other lakes in the area are so busy. It's hard to find waters this calm and warm water in the summer. The floating camp sites are a must try in your life time.

The recreation area is very nice and is full of historical information as well as very informative and interesting information about the current area. The history, construction and operation of the Oroville Dam is well worth seeing.