North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve hiking to see waterfalls and wildflowers.

Cross-country hiking on not-so-flat Table Mountain in Butte County, California USA.

(20feb2011) North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve is a great place for hiking to see waterfalls and wildflowers. We drove to Oroville, CA and drove north on Cherokee Rd to the Dept. Fish & Game public access parking. There are no official trails here. Jim's portable gps (Garmin GPSMap 76S) was a handy tool for this kind of cross-country hiking. The rolling hills and limited visual landmarks make it a tricky place to hike cross-country. If you wander around on top of Table Mountain you will eventually get where you are going and see lots of interesting things along the way. Under these conditions a portable gps is helpful to know where you are and to plot an efficient route to your desired hiking destinations.

Hiking Map - North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville, California.

• The map is interactive. Click and drag to reposition map. Map user instructions.
• Use the tool on the left to zoom in and out. Point on the red markers to see their names.
• Map=roads. Satellite=satellite map. Terrain=3D shaded topo map. Topo=topographic map.
• Full-Screen Road and Hiking Map: North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve.



Geographic coordinates - landmark name.
N 39.52409 W 121.55865 - Cherokee Rd, Oroville, California (elevation 342 ft) (A)
N 39.59555 W 121.54164 - DFG Public Parking (elevation 1320 ft) (B)
N 39.59081 W 121.58136 - Beatson Falls (C)
N 39.60379 W 121.55756 - Ravine Twin Falls (D)

N 39.20582 W 121.82057 - Sutter Buttes (elevation 2117 ft) (E)
N 39.38334 W 122.75213 - Snow Mountain (elevation 7056 ft) (F)
N 39.43447 W 122.69347 - St John Mountain (elevation 6746 ft) (G)
N 40.18611 W 121.37556 - Ruffa Ridge (elevation 7000 ft) (H)

Beatson Falls and Twin Ravine Falls - Waterfalls at Table Mountain.

We hiked cross-country to Beatson Falls and Twin Ravine Falls. Along the way we got distant views of Sutter Buttes to the south-west, snowy mountaintops like Snow Mountain & St John Mountain to the west, and possibly Ruffa Ridge to the north.



More BRT videos:
• BRT hiking and kayaking videos.
• Video taken with Pentax Optio W10 waterproof camera, edited with Windows Movie Maker.

• Twin Ravine Falls.

More BRT & JH waterfall and wildflower photos from Table Mountain:
• BRT & JH Table Mountain photos 20feb2011.
• Olympus Stylus 720SW camera. Photos edited with IrfanView software.

• Table Mountain photos - ElRemaro 20feb2011. Linked to gps track and topo map.
• Pentax Optio W10 waterproof camera.

Wildflower season begins at Table Mountain.

We saw some of the first few wildflowers blooming at Table Mountain this year. Hopefully we can go back there later in the spring to see additional types of flowers that bloom later in the season.

• Owl's Clover and California Poppy wildflowers.

Unfortunately our hiking was interrupted by equipment malfunction. The rubber sole came off one of my hiking boots came off as we were hiking away from Beatson Falls. All of the spare rope and string we could find in our backpacks could not secure that rubber sole on my boot despite repeated attempts to retie and rearrange the strings. After Ravine Twin Falls I reluctantly agreed to hike out. This was a remarkably good decision because shortly after the rubber sole on the other boot started separating from the shoe. Fortunately we got back to the car before either of my boots completely disintegrated.

We stopped at Taco Bell in Oroville on the way home. I was disappointed that their Cantina Tacos have been rotated out of the menu. I really like their new Smoke Flavored Taco Sauce.

For more information:
• Return to North Table Mountain to see Coal Canyon Falls 27feb2011.
• Wildflowers of Table Mountain, Butte County, California - book report.
• Waterfalls of North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, Butte County, CA.
• Waterfall Hiking in California - websites.
• Hiking, Camping and Biking Trip Reports - BRT Insights.
• California Hiking Trails - Statewide Information.
• California Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.

IceRocket Tags: hiking, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, Butte County, California, northern California, Oroville CA.
Tags: photography, landscape photography, wildflowers, waterfalls.