Butte Creek Ecological Reserve, Protected natural area near Chico, California.

Butte Creek Ecological Reserve consists of two management units along Butte Creek east of Chico: the 93-acre Honey Run Unit, owned by the Chico State Research Foundation, and the 287-acre Virgin Valley and Canyon Units, managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The Canyon Unit, 255 acres two miles southeast of Chico, holds over 40 percent non-native grasses plus California black walnut and shield-bracted monkey flower; the 30-acre Virgin Valley Unit, half a mile downstream of the canyon mouth, has valley oaks on streamside terraces.

Dredge mining worked the Butte Creek canyon from the 1800s until about 1950, followed by sand and gravel extraction into the 1970s. In 1980 a 75-condominium project was approved, then overturned by a citizens' ballot initiative. The 1986 flood, which caused over $13 million in damage in Butte County, washed out two bridge crossings; the mining company soon sold, and CDFW bought the canyon and Virgin Valley parcels while John McAmis bought Honey Run, selling it to the Chico State Research Foundation in 1998.

The Honey Run Unit's name comes from the Honey Run covered bridge and road that crossed Butte Creek here. The land was dredge-mined from the 1800s to about 1950, then mined for sand and gravel into the 1970s; the 1986 flood washed out the two bridge crossings on the creek, ending that use and starting the preservation sequence.

The reserve has no formal trail network or visitor facilities; access is on foot along Butte Creek east of Chico, and the Honey Run Unit lies within the canyon proper. The 1986 flood washed out the two bridge crossings on the creek, so check current conditions and water levels before setting out, and expect unmaintained footing.

In 1987 only 14 Chinook salmon were counted in Butte Creek; by 1998 the count reached 20,000. The spring-run population is now the largest and one of the few self-sustaining ones in the Central Valley, listed as threatened under state and federal endangered species acts.