Oroville is a small city in Butte County, Northern California, best known to most Americans for the near-failure of Lake Oroville Dam in 2017 — the tallest dam in the United States, whose damaged spillway caused the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. The repairs were completed, and the dam and reservoir are now open for recreation.
Lake Oroville itself is a major draw: 167 miles of shoreline, boat ramps, campsites, and houseboat rentals fill it with visitors in summer. The Feather River below the dam has good salmon and steelhead fishing.
In town, the Chinese Temple is a genuine historical treasure — a complex of three interconnected temples built by Chinese gold miners in 1863, containing original altarpieces, lanterns, and puppets that survived intact. Oroville was the site of one of California's largest Chinatowns during the Gold Rush era, and the temple is one of the best-preserved remnants of that community in the state.
The city also sits near the Feather River Canyon and the Plumas National Forest, both offering hiking and scenic driving.