Lake Oroville Update - June 12, 2026

Explore the Thermalito Afterbay

The Thermalito Afterbay and surrounding Oroville Wildlife Area are managed for primitive and immersive wildlife experiences and for the preservation and enhancement of wildlife habitat areas. With 17 miles of shoreline and 4,300 surface acres of water, the Thermalito Afterbay provides an expansive area for watercraft use, with numerous opportunities for motorized and non-motorized vessels, swimming, fishing, picnicking, and hunting.

The Afterbay's Monument Hill boat ramp and day use area provides a two-lane ramp with a boarding dock, picnic tables, barbecues, restroom facilities, a fish cleaning station, and a swimming beach. North of the Highway 162 bridge, a 5-mph motorized watercraft speed limit provides opportunities for paddle sports, windsurfing, and fishing. The Wilbur Road boat ramp on the northern side of the Afterbay and the Larkin Road car-top boat ramp on the southern side of the Afterbay provide additional launching facilities for water recreation, with vault restroom facilities at both locations.

Several trails in the Afterbay area - Toland Road Trailhead, Tres Vias Trailhead, and East Hamilton Road Trailhead - connect with the popular Brad Freeman Trail for further exploration of the Oroville Wildlife Area. The East Hamilton Trailhead is the only facility with a picnic table and a small gravel parking area.

Located within the Oroville Wildlife Area, campsites near the Afterbay Outlet offer primitive camping facilities with vault restrooms and trash receptacles. To check hunting and fishing seasons and regulations, consult the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

Community Art Project at the Visitor Center

Lake Oroville Visitor Center staff invite members of the public to join an ongoing community art project focused on the Feather River. Using a rainbow of tissue paper, visitors can help create a stained-glass-like mural featuring vegetation, wildlife, and scenery one might see along the Feather River. The mural will be displayed at the Visitor Center through June 21.

The Lake Oroville Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Staffed by knowledgeable guides, the 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.

Feather River Fish Monitoring Station

DWR resumed operations of the Feather River fish monitoring station on March 4, 2026, to capture the return of spring-run Chinook salmon. Monitoring was temporarily suspended at the end of December 2025 due to anticipated high flows in the Feather River. Upstream migrating fish totals between March 4 and June 5, 2026, are:

• Spring-run Chinook salmon: 7,129
• Steelhead: -27 (most likely kelts moving downstream)
• To see previous year data, visit CalFish.org.

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 890 feet elevation and storage is approximately 3.28 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 96 percent of its total capacity and 118 percent of the historical average.

Feather River flows are at 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with releases from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet at 3,350 cfs for a total Feather River release of 4,000 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 6/11/2026.