Virtual Guidebook to Lake Tahoe and the Northern Sierra Nevada
Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville
On the Feather River in Butte County California

Massive Oroville Dam impounds the Feather River in the northern Sierra Nevada. It was built in 1958, keystone of the California Water Project. The extra water it makes available flows through the Sacramento Delta into the California Aqueduct for distribution in the San Joaquin Valley, coastal valleys, and over the Tehachapis into Southern California.

This is the highest dam in the US, 770 feet high and 6920 feet wide. In addition to water storage it provides flood control, recreation, and hydro-electric power. The historic 240-foot long Bidwell Bar Bridge from 1855 was relocated to the lakeshore. A new Bidwell Bar Bridge 1108 feet long was built over Lake Oroville. Before the lake filled it was one of the highest suspension bridges in the world, 627 feet above the river.