Two roads out of Chico
Chico sits where the valley floor meets the foothills, which means you can be somewhere completely different in half an hour. Two routes do most of the work.
Honey Run Road drops into Butte Creek Canyon and climbs toward the Paradise ridge. It is narrow, winding, and one of the prettiest drives in the county.
Highway 32 climbs east out of Chico through Forest Ranch and keeps going into the mountains. Oak gives way to pine, the temperature drops, and the whole feel of the place changes.
Fall is the right season for both. The heat is gone, the light gets low and gold in the afternoon, and the color starts turning through October.
Honey Run Covered Bridge
This is the anchor of any canyon trip, and the story behind it is worth knowing.
The original bridge went up in 1886 and opened to the public by January 1887, carrying traffic across Butte Creek on the road between Chico and the ridge. Its three unequal spans and Pratt truss design made it the only three-span covered bridge of its kind in the United States, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
It stopped carrying cars in 1965 after a runaway truck damaged the far span, and it became a pedestrian bridge and county park.
Then the Camp Fire took it on November 8, 2018.
What happened next is the part I like. The Honey Run Covered Bridge Association, a local nonprofit formed back in 1965, took over ownership and spent years raising private money to rebuild it, working through permitting complicated by the protected salmon run in the creek below. Local businesses, contractors, engineers, and Chico State construction management faculty and students all donated work. The rebuilt bridge officially reopened to the public on July 1, 2025, along with the surrounding park and a new caretaker cottage.
Standing on it now, knowing what the canyon looked like in 2019, is a genuinely moving experience. If you have moved here recently and want to understand what this community is like, go see it.
The park has picnic areas and parking. Check current hours and any day-use fee at hrcoveredbridge.org before you go, and consider donating while you are there. The bridge exists because people paid for it themselves.
Watch for the river otters
This is my favorite reason to slow down at the creek.
River otters live in Butte Creek and show up around the bridge area with some regularity. They are playful, they fish, and they will absolutely put on a show if you are patient and quiet. Early morning and late afternoon are your best odds.
Bring binoculars if you have them, and give them room. Watching otters work a stretch of creek is one of those things that makes you glad you live here instead of somewhere else.
Butte Creek itself
Butte Creek is one of the most significant salmon streams in the Central Valley, home to a protected spring-run Chinook population. That is the reason the bridge project had to work around fish habitat, and it is the reason the creek gets the attention it does. If the fish are what interest you, the fall Chinook run at the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville is the easiest place in the county to actually watch salmon up close.
In fall, the canyon is quiet in a way it is not in summer. The swimming crowds are gone, the water is low and clear, and the oaks and sycamores start turning. Bring a camera and drive slowly, because the road demands it anyway.
The small community of Centerville sits along the canyon and preserves a good deal of local history. It’s worth a stop if the local museum is open when you pass through.
Forest Ranch and Highway 32
Head east out of Chico on Highway 32 and you climb steadily out of the valley. Within about twenty minutes you are in Forest Ranch, an unincorporated community spread through the pines along the highway.
Forest Ranch is not a destination with a main street and shops. It is a place people live, scattered on wooded parcels, with a general store and a rural rhythm. What it offers a visitor is the drive, the air, and access to the country beyond it.
Big Chico Creek runs through this corridor, and the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve sits off Highway 32 with hiking access. Check current access rules and any permit requirements, since reserve policies can change.
Keep going on 32 and the road climbs toward Deer Creek and eventually connects toward the Lassen area. In fall it is a spectacular drive. In winter, it is a road you check conditions on before you commit.
What a fall Saturday could look like
Start early at the Chico farmers market and pick up food for a picnic. Drive Honey Run Road into the canyon, stop at the covered bridge, watch for otters, and eat there. Continue up toward the ridge, or turn around and take Highway 32 up through Forest Ranch in the afternoon light. Be back in Chico for dinner.
That is a full day, it costs almost nothing, and most people who have lived here for years have never strung it together.
Living out here
I get asked about Forest Ranch and the canyon fairly often, usually by people who fall in love with the drive and start wondering what it would be like to stay.
It is a real option, and it is a different kind of ownership.
Water is the big one. A lot of Forest Ranch properties do not have a producing well, and owners truck water in and store it in tanks. That is a normal way of life up there, and people manage it without drama, but it is a genuine ongoing cost and logistics commitment that catches valley buyers off guard. When you look at a Forest Ranch property, one of the first questions is always where the water comes from, how much storage exists, and what the delivery arrangement looks like.
Beyond water, you are looking at larger parcels, septic, propane, wood heat, and the practical realities of a mountain road in winter. Fire preparation is not optional, and neither is a plan for power outages. Insurance is its own conversation, and it works much the way it does on the Paradise ridge.
In exchange you get quiet, trees, and space the valley floor simply cannot offer.
Some of my favorite clients live up there. It suits a specific person very well and suits other people not at all, and figuring out which one you are is the conversation worth having before you start looking. We’ll figure it out together.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Honey Run Covered Bridge open? Yes. The rebuilt bridge and surrounding park officially reopened to the public on July 1, 2025, after the original was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire.
How far is Butte Creek Canyon from Chico? Honey Run Road begins just outside Chico, and the covered bridge is a short drive from town, typically under twenty minutes depending on where you start.
Are there river otters in Butte Creek? Yes. River otters live in Butte Creek and are seen around the Honey Run Covered Bridge area. Early morning and late afternoon give you the best chance of spotting them.
Where is Forest Ranch, California? Forest Ranch is an unincorporated community along Highway 32, east of Chico, in the foothills above the valley floor.
Do Forest Ranch homes have wells? Some do, but many properties in Forest Ranch have water trucked in and stored in tanks rather than drawing from a producing well. Always confirm the water source and storage setup for a specific property.
Is Honey Run Road safe to drive? It is a narrow, winding two-lane road with limited shoulders. Drive slowly, watch for cyclists, and use caution in wet weather. It is not a road to rush.