Fireworks over Lake Oroville

Sunset over Lake Oroville

For fourth of July, 2015, I saw there was an annual fireworks display over Lake Oroville, near Oroville, California. Lake Oroville was built as a water storage reservoir from Oroville Dam, the tallest earthen dam in the United States. Lake Oroville is the second largest lake in California and holds water from the Feather River for dozens of California cities and millions of farmers, landowners, and residents. It was built by the Department of Water Resources as part of the State Water Project back in the 1960s and provides water storage, flood control, a fish hatchery, and habitat for fish and wildlife. Like most reservoirs, the lake has an extensive recreation area for people to go fishing, boating, and camping. The recreation area is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in a beautiful location with forested slopes and hills and high vantage points of the lake and surrounding area. The fireworks display was being shot from the top of the dam, but finding the right spot from which to view the show would be challenging.

After a nice dinner at Applebee's in Oroville, we headed up the Olive Highway in my truck towards the reservoir. The first challenge was finding the general location--where along this massive lake we should go to get a good view not blocked by mountain sides or trees. As we made our way towards the dam, we also discovered that the event was very popular and we were far from the only ones who had the idea of coming up there. We found the right area, but were met with huge crowds of people and traffic along the narrow residential street of Royal Oaks Road. We didn't get the memo that up to 15,000 people were expected to show up and most were being shuttled in. We found the golf and event center where people were gathering, and had to drop the elderly parents off, then set off to find parking. So my brother and I went back out to Kelly Ridge Road and found a parking lot at the Lake Oroville Visitor Center to walk from. So far so good.

Back at the golf and event center, the place was filling up with people drinking a lot of beer and bad karaoke singing heard in the distance. The fireworks took awhile to start and was accompanied by loud, dramatic music and even a louder crowd. It was a nice display, and we could see the fireworks in the sky; but from our vantage point, not reflected over the water as I had originally hoped. The water level was low due to the 2015 drought, and people blocked view of everything but the sky. And people were practically tripping over us. It was a bit disappointing, but the misadventure didn't stop there. After the show, my brother and I negotiated the now somewhat rowdy crowd to walk back up to the truck and drive it down to pick up my husband and parents. When we got to the intersection, Royal Oaks was blocked by police. We could not get to the parents--they would not let us in. Some drunk caused an accident, I believe, and my folks were stranded with the stragglers and getting nervous before the cops finally let us inside to get them. That was a tiring ordeal, but getting back down the mountain into Oroville was another story. Backed up, bumper-to-bumper traffic on the steep grade was no picnic for my truck's manual transmission. I nearly burned out my clutch trying to get down that hill without plowing into the cars in front of me.

Well, not every 4th of July attraction is what I thought it would be, but the organizers were pleased. We didn't even attempt to make it to the parking lot party. Perhaps we would have had better luck if we came earlier in the day. However, it was an experience and a memory--and that's what getting out and doing these things is about. Sometimes it's a winning experience and sometimes not so much. In any case, there are other ways to explore the Lake Oroville Recreation Area.