Feather Falls dances through a remote canyon

Bald Rock Dome is 2 miles wide, having formed about 140 million years ago. It’s about 2,000 feet above the middle fork of the Feather River at an elevation of 3,509 feet. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

You know when you keep being told how much you’ll like something, that you really ought to visit such and such place, and then when you finally do, you wonder what all the hubbub was about?

Well, sometimes, all the hype doesn’t even come close to the actual experience. It’s actually better. Such was the case with a trip to Feather Falls in Butte County earlier this month.

The U.S. Forest Service in late 2025 reopened the trail after it was devastated by the 2020 North Complex Fire. Several lightning ignited blazes merged into one, burning 318,930 acres and killing 16 people.

Bridges have been rebuilt, trail sections reinforced, precarious trees removed.

Feather Falls comes into view after hiking about 4.5 miles into a canyon. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

I don’t have a pre-fire experience. But as most of us know, fire can dramatically change a landscape.

“What was once a dense, shad­ed for­est jour­ney now reveals an exposed, recov­er­ing ecosystem,” is how Explore Butte County describes it.

The trail is mostly single-track compact dirt. Because of the lack of shade this isn’t a hike to do in the summer—it’s too dang hot in this part of Northern California.

Driving in the landscape seemed worse to me than along the trail. But, again, I hadn’t been there pre-fire. Still, it’s nothing like hiking parts of Lassen Volcanic National Park or areas in Lake Tahoe where charred trees don’t allow you to forget about fire. It could be I’m becoming immune to seeing fire ravaged terrain. It also had to do with the dead trees weren’t constantly beside me here. The worst parts were at the start of the hike, or looking into the distance and seeing stands of gray.

At 410 tall, the Forest Service says Feather Falls is the sixth tallest waterfall in the country.

It was stunning. Reminiscent of cascading water that flows from the mountainsides of Yosemite.

The sound—thundering and melodic at the same time. The visual—pulsating and mesmerizing.

Several miles down, the Feather River is dammed, forming Lake Oroville. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

A platform overlooking the falls is the perfect spot to just chill, take in the scenery and marvel at Mother Nature’s gifts.

“The middle fork of the Feather River has been designated a wild and scenic river since 1968. It is divided into three zones: wild, scenic, and recreation,” the USFS website says. “Before its confluence with the middle fork of the Feather River, just downstream from Feather Falls, the Fall River descends from the northern Sierra.”

This was one of the eight originally designated wild and scenic rivers.

The worst part about the hike was the climb out. In all, the elevation gain was 1,388 feet and distance was 9.14 miles. There is a shorter route by about 1.5 miles round trip, but it’s steeper.

The excursion was through the Ridge Hiking Association in Paradise.

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Deets:

Directions from Oroville:

• Leav­ing from Oroville at Oro-Dam Boulevard and High­way 70
• Turn right at Oro-Quin­cy High­way (Highway 162) and dri­ve for 7.3 miles
• Turn right at Forbestown Road and dri­ve for 5.1 miles
• Turn left at Lump­kin Road and dri­ve for 10.5 miles
• Turn left at 21N35Y; the trail­head will be 1 mile ahead.