Lake Oroville Update - November 21, 2025

Snow-cember at the Visitor Center

Stop by the Lake Oroville Visitor Center for free winter-themed craft activities for kids ages three and older! Located at 917 Kelly Ridge Road in Oroville, the Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Snow-cember weekend craft activities are offered between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and include:

• Nov. 29-30: Polar bear handprint craft and snowman bookmark
• Dec. 6-7: Clay snowman craft, pastel art, and snow slime
• Dec. 13-14: Salt and watercolor snowflake art, snowflake sun catcher, and ice fishing experiment
• Dec. 20-21: Pipe cleaner snowflake ornament and take-home salt crystal snowflake experiment
• Dec. 27-28: Paper plate swirly snowman and snowman wreath
• Jan. 3-4: Pasta snowflake art and icicle ornament

Craft activities are free and offered while supplies last. Visitor Center activities throughout Snow-cember also include a water drop toss game, snowflake craft station, and 2025 DWR snow survey videos in the theater.

Staffed by knowledgeable guides, the Lake Oroville Visitor Center features interpretive displays on Oroville Dam, area geology, wildlife and habitat, hydroelectric power, and cultural and historical artifacts. View videos in the theater about the construction of Oroville Dam, walk or hike along nearby trails, and visit the 47-foot-tall observation tower that provides unsurpassed panoramic views of surrounding areas. Free guided tours for school and community groups are available by reservation. Parking and admission to the Visitor Center are free.

Floating Classroom Tours End for the Season

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has concluded the 2025 Feather River Floating Classroom tour season. Free tours for local schools and community members started in early October and ran through early November in Oroville, during the peak of Chinook salmon spawning activity in the Feather River. This year DWR offered free field trips to more than 1,000 fourth- through 12th-grade students from 13 different schools, along with free Saturday tours for 480 community members. 

Developed by scientists within DWR’s Division of Integrated Science and Engineering (DISE), the Feather River Floating Classroom Program gives students and community members an up-close and personal view of Chinook salmon, as rafts guided by scientists drift through their natural spawning habitat. Scientists also provide education about DWR’s State Water Project and the work occurring in the Feather River to monitor and conserve anadromous Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and green sturgeon populations.  

The Floating Classroom program is entirely funded by DWR with support from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Thermalito Union Elementary School District. While tours have ended for the season, DWR’s efforts continue year-round to monitor and conserve anadromous populations. The Feather River Floating Classroom program will resume next fall, when Chinook Salmon spawning begins. To learn more about this program, visit DWR’s blog. 

Paving and Sealing Work Ongoing

DWR is suspending paving and sealing work for the winter on a project to rehabilitate several locations owned and maintained by the department that are heavily used by maintenance staff and members of the public. While improvements in most public areas have been completed, portions of the Thermalito Afterbay Dam Crest Road remain closed through the end of November. The Thermalito Afterbay Dam Crest Road will reopen to vehicles and foot traffic through the winter and spring, with paving work expected to resume in May 2026.

Construction closures are in effect for the following public areas and roads:

• Aug. 18 – Nov. 30: Afterbay Dam Crest Road/Brad Freeman Trail south of State Route 162 to the East Hamilton Road Trail Access

Additional locations for future paving and sealing work in 2026 include:

• Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant

• Oroville Field Division Operations and Maintenance Center at Glen Drive

DWR will provide more details about scheduled work and potential public access impacts in future newsletters. Work schedules are subject to change based on weather and the availability of equipment and materials. Vintage Paving Company, Inc. of Winters, California is the project contractor.

Golden Mussel Inspection Program

DWR is reminding the public that boat ramps at Lake Oroville are no longer open 24/7. Watercraft must be out of the water by ramp closing time or they will be locked into the facility overnight. Please plan ahead. More details about DWR’s mussel inspection program are available at water.ca.gov/mussels.

Watercraft Inspection Location/Decontamination Services

North Thermalito Forebay at Garden Drive and HWY 70 in Oroville 

Hours of operation: Daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sealed Vessel Launching 

Lake Oroville

Ramp hours: Daily from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Spillway  

Ramp hours: Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Friday-Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• Bidwell Canyon

Ramp hours: Monday-Thursday 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Friday-Sunday 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

• Lime Saddle

Ramp hours: Daily from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Loafer Creek/Loafer Point

Thermalito Afterbay 

Ramp hours: Daily from 1.5 hours before sunrise to 1 hour after sunset

• Monument Hill

Thermalito Forebay

Ramp Hours: Daily from 8 a.m. to sunset

• North Forebay (Non-motorized vessels only)

Feather River Fish Monitoring Station

Between Jan. 30 and April 20, high flows in the Feather River required the temporary removal of fish monitoring equipment resulting in lower spring-run estimates. Upstream migrating fish totals through the Feather River Fish Monitoring Station between Jan. 1 and Nov. 16, 2025 are:  

• Spring-run Chinook salmon (April 16 through June 30): 17,712
• Fall-run Chinook salmon (July 1 through present): 42,319
• Steelhead: 1,487
• To see previous year data, visit CalFish.org.

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 769 feet elevation and storage is approximately 1.78 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 52 percent of its total capacity and 101 percent of the historical average.

Feather River flows are at 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with 1,750 cfs being released from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet (Outlet) for a total Feather River release of 2,400 cfs downstream. DWR continues to assess Feather River releases daily.

The public can track precipitation, snow, reservoir levels, and more at the California Data Exchange Center. The Lake Oroville gage station is identified as “ORO.”

All data as of 11:59 p.m. on 11/20/2025.

DWR wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

The Lake Oroville Community Update will return on December 5, 2025.