This California park has been called the third-largest in the country for decades, and it’s actually 26th

Ask a Chico local how big Bidwell Park is, and you’ll hear the same line almost every time: third-largest municipal park in the country. Ask a city park ranger the same question, and you’ll get three different answers in one conversation.

Here’s the real number, according to the Trust for Public Land’s National Center for City Park Excellence: Bidwell Park ranks 26th nationally, at 3,670 acres. Back in 1905, when Annie Bidwell donated the land to the city, it wasn’t even top three — it was fifth.

So it’s not the third-biggest anything, and honestly? Doesn’t matter. Almost none of the 25 parks ranked above it let you swim in a granite-edged pool ten minutes from downtown, or walk through the exact stretch of forest that played Sherwood Forest in a Best Picture nominee.

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The forest that played Sherwood Forest

In 1938, Warner Bros. shot the Sherwood Forest scenes for The Adventures of Robin Hood inside Bidwell Park, with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland leading the cast. Crews sprayed real leaves with green dye so they’d read right in Technicolor, and added plaster-of-Paris trees anywhere the real forest wasn’t dramatic enough.

The film won three Oscars and picked up a Best Picture nomination. Nobody’s ever marked the exact filming spot, so half the fun of a walk through the park’s oak groves is guessing which stretch looks the most Sherwood.

Where to actually swim

Lower Park makes this easy. Sycamore Pool, at the One-Mile Recreation Area about a mile from downtown, is a roughly 3-acre pool built right into Big Chico Creek — free to enter, lifeguarded in peak season, and about as close as Chico gets to a community pool that isn’t actually a pool.

Upper Park is the version for people who want to earn it. Bear Hole, Salmon Hole, and Alligator Hole sit strung along Big Chico Creek in rougher, oak-and-lava-rock terrain, reached via the Yahi Trail — a moderate 9-mile round trip with 754 feet of elevation gain, typically 3.5 to 4 hours if you’re hiking the whole thing. Shorter loop options exist too, including one under 4 miles with less than 250 feet of gain, if the swimming holes are the goal rather than the full trail.

Sycamore Pool is the one everyone photographs. Salmon Hole — tucked behind a steeper scramble with no railings — is the one worth the extra effort. Oak-shaded, genuinely quiet, and big enough that fifty other people aren’t sharing it with you.

Currents in Big Chico Creek shift with the season and can run stronger than they look, especially the farther upstream you go. Check the City of Chico’s current park conditions before you head out, and skip the water if the creek’s running high.

Getting there and getting around

Bidwell Park runs nearly 11 miles from downtown Chico into the foothills, split into Lower Park — paved paths, picnic areas, easy creek access — and the more rugged Upper Park, with hiking and mountain biking trails and noticeably fewer people. Both halves are free to enter, with free parking at the main recreation areas.

Leash rules shift depending where you are: Lower Park requires dogs on-leash except for a 5:30–8:30 a.m. off-leash window, while Upper Park allows off-leash dogs anytime on the north side of Upper Park Road. Chico sits just off Highway 99, about 90 minutes north of Sacramento.

If Bidwell’s pools have you in a swimming mood, they’re just the start — the rest of California’s best swimming holes are just as worth the drive.

Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.

Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.

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