Outdoor Events and Activities

Youth in the Outdoors

Youth in the Outdoors: Fun, educational, wildlife-related activities for young Californians

Nature Bowl

Nature Bowl is a cooperative team competition for 3rd through 6th grade students. Students are divided into teams and will be answering questions and doing activities based on environmental science and regional environmental issues. Coach orientation starts in January.
For more information, call (916) 358-2353.

Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

Gray Lodge Wildlife Area (Butte County) hosts wildlife-related events year-round.

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

(in the nearby Bay-Delta Region)

The Yolo Basin Foundation works in partnership with DFG to provide educational opportunities for the public at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (Yolo County). For information, contact: Rachelle De Clerck, Yolo Basin Foundation Program Director, rachelle@yolobasin.org, (530) 758-1018 or visit the Foundation's website at www.yolobasin.org.

Nimbus Fish Hatchery Visitor Center

All Year: Discover the watery world of salmon at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery Visitor Center. Self-guided tour brochures will guide you through the facility, and helpful staff are available all year to answer your questions. The visitor center is open 7 days a week from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

• Nimbus Fish Hatchery School Tours:
  Hatchery School Tours are available from November through March. These educational tours teach the lifecycle of salmon, the purpose of the hatchery, and the conservation of salmon and other natural resources.
  Call (916) 358-2884 for more information.

Oroville's C.A.S.T. (Catch a Special Thrill)

September:  Local bass anglers partner with disabled children for a day of fishing at Lake Oroville.
Call (530) 538-2222 for more information.

Feather River Salmon Festival

4th Saturday of September: The stretch of the Feather River between Historic Downtown Oroville and the Feather River Fish Hatchery (Butte County) bursts with fish-flavored activities during the Annual Salmon Festival, a day of fun, food, music and information. From 10am - 4pm the fish hatchery celebrates the thousands of spawning salmon that annually make their way from the ocean back to Oroville.

Across from the hatchery at the Feather River Nature Center, you enjoy a continuation of the Maidu Salmon Ceremony with live dancing by local Native Americans and free fish-tasting all day. The Maidu Salmon Ceremony will offer Salmon Camp and demonstrations of spear fishing at Riverbend Park in Oroville. The following week, you can celebrate Native American cultural music and dancing at the Salmon Pow Wow. (530) 538-2222

Crane Viewing and Tours

(in the nearby Bay-Delta Region)

Crane Tours at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve (AKA Isenberg Crane Reserve) feature sandhill cranes, many species of waterfowl, and other wildlife. Guided tours run from October through February. You may also wish to visit the reserve on your own. The facility is open every day of the year. Cranes are only visible at the site during the fall and winter months, but many other waterfowl and wildlife, use the reserve throught the year.

Sandhill Crane Festival in Lodi

(in the nearby Bay-Delta Region)

Sandhill cranes, hawks, waders, and songbirds fill the San Joaquin and Central Valleys during the winter season. The Sandhill Crane Festival provides nature tours to see these magnificent creatures as well as wildlife demos, music and dance, workshops and speakers, family activities, and other great events. This three day festival occurs early November.