But this is Chico, too

It never ceases to amaze me how sparsely settled Glenn County is. Here we are in a state with 37 million people and Butte County’s neighbor to the west has about 30,000 people.

Because California is so urban — more than 90 percent of its residents live in cities, suburbs or towns — many of its rural areas are almost empty, or at least it seems that way to urbanites. We are accustomed to seeing people, cars and houses everywhere we look.

That’s one of the things I like about Glenn County. On some of the country roads, you can drive for miles without seeing anybody.

This blog specializes in short jaunts I call “walk around the block.” This tour of Glenn County is a drive around a very large block. I deliberately picked one of the most rectangular routes I could find.

It starts on Highway 45, just south of Ordbend, and goes through Glenn, Willows and Bayliss.
Follow Highway 45, one of the state’s oldest roads, along the Sacramento River, one of the state’s earliest transportation routes, until you reach Glenn.

Glenn has a working post office, but its general store is closed and boarded up. In the Valley’s tiniest towns, retail businesses seem to be vanishing. The Ordbend general store recently closed as well.

At Glenn, turn right on Highway 162 and head to Willows. On a clear day, the low-lying cropland allows an unobstructed view of the mountains that ring the Valley.

One of the first businesses you’ll see as you enter Willows is Common Grounds Coffeehouse, which has mouth-watering pastries, not just your usual muffins and scones.

Willows, like so many towns that got their start more than 100 years ago, has some handsome public buildings. I took this photo of the Glenn County Courthouse through the arches of the Veterans Memorial Building.

Once you’ve had a look around downtown Willows, you need to double back a little and head north along Highway 99 West. About three miles out of Willows, you’ll turn right at Bayliss-Blue Gum Road, heading east.

As you turn the corner, you’ll pass Sierra Nevada Cheese Co., a maker of gourmet cheeses. The company gets much of its raw milk from cows on nearby dairy farms.

Along Bayliss-Blue Gum, you’ll see a few stands of the road’s namesake trees — eucalyptus. You’ll also pass through Bayliss, another tiny community with a boarded up general store. But Bayliss’ Carnegie Library, built in 1917, is still in operation. It is the only Carnegie Library in the country that was built in a rural area.

While driving along Bayliss-Blue Gum I took a photo of this falling-down barn. To my urban eyes, it’s picturesque. But I want to emphasize that this is a thriving farming region and most of the outbuildings aren’t dilapidated.

The drive around this very large block ends a mile past Bayliss when Bayliss-Blue Gum reaches Highway 45.

Keep in mind that you’ve seen the more populated side of Glenn County. West of the Interstate 5, you encounter stretches of countryside that are very likely as empty as they were when the first white settlers saw them more than 150 years ago.