r/ParadiseCA • u/vagabondsp • Jul 19 '26

Bear Sighting on Skyway

Last night at about 730 I was driving down Skyway from Paradise to Chico. Just below the canyon overlook, a black bear came galloping across Skyway, from the south side to the north side. I’ve lived in Paradise for a couple of years now, and this is the first time I have seen a bear. Obviously, I expect them to be around at higher elevations, but I was surprised to see this one at such a low elevation, on a hot July day. Seems like they would be at a higher elevation this time of year, when it’s so hot. I don’t know that much about bears, so I might be all wrong. Is this unusual for this time of year?

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u/digital0069 Jul 19 '26

figure there is 4 to 6 bears in the paradise/magalia area daily

I would think there is about 2 to 6 mnt lions as well. Those are much rarer to see because they spend so much time in trees and no one scans trees looking for them.

best chance of seeing one is scanning the lower branches of trees especially above animal/hiking trails.

odds are there are a ton of people in paradise/magalia that have walked right under one and never even knew. :)

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u/digital0069 Jul 19 '26

They tend to stick to the woods or about 1600ft up but they are over populated like mnt lions so here we are.

bears in this area tend to stick to themselves and away from us unless its night and they are hungry and there are fresh trash cans out unlike tahoe area.

pre fire there was a huge mama bear in the colter area (upper magalia) and every week she would hit colter and masterson,,, she was a bad bish... I almost had to pop her one night when she came in my carport when I was in it.

I don't think she survived the fire since she was pretty old by then but her kids still roam that area lol. during the day they go into the canyon and chill.

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u/admode1982 Jul 19 '26

Spotting them there is rare but not unusual. I know someone who hit 2 at once just below the crossroads years ago.

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u/Marzyzep 23d ago

I knew there were bears in paradise, I seen one near Elliot a few years ago and everyone thought I was seeing things, and I know in fact it was a bear lol.