Blog · October 14, 2026 · California
Chico Plat Map: finding the recorded plat
A recorded plat shows how land near Biggs was divided into lots.
Main page: Butte County, CA GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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If a legal description for land in Chico cites a lot number, the Chico plat map is where those numbers come from. In this Chico guide: where plats are filed, how a plat differs from a parcel map, and the details that matter to buyers.
Who keeps the Chico plat map
For a subdivision near Gridley, the deed usually cites the plat; bring that to the recorder's office or its online index.
Where the parcel data lives
Your first stop is the Butte County parcel viewer; it covers each assessed parcel in the county, Gridley included. Without an address in hand, pan along the nearest road until the lines appear, then click inside the one you want, whether the land is near Biggs or elsewhere in the county. If the land is near Biggs, write down the parcel ID before closing the panel; every office in the county asks for it first.
City limits and county records
Chico is part of Butte County, California, and the county assessor maps its lots. For land near Biggs, the municipality handles matters such as zoning, permits and utilities inside its limits, and the county still keeps the parcel and deed records. Lots just outside the city limits near Oroville often falls under county rules, not municipal ones.
Recorded plat or GIS layer
The Butte County parcel viewer draws parcels for taxes, whereas the plat carries surveyed dimensions.
Amended plats
Lots near Gridley can be combined or reconfigured by a replat, search the index for replats of the same subdivision; street vacations near Biggs show up in the records too.
Butte County in a few facts
Oroville is the county seat, where most land records are kept. Smaller places on the map include Paradise, Biggs, and Gridley, each with its own cluster of lots. About 207,172 people call Butte County home (Census estimate, 2023) spread over some 1,636 square miles. Features like Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge help you orient on the aerial around Gridley.
Details on the Chico plat map
For a home near Paradise, the sheet usually includes lot and block numbers, dimensions and bearings, street rights-of-way and easements.
Getting answers from the right desk
Deeds, mortgages and recorded plats for land near Oroville sit in the index kept by the County Recorder, usually searchable by name or document number. Questions about what you can build around Gridley need the planning or permitting office, depending on whether the land is inside town limits.
Land on the county line
Butte County touches Colusa County, Glenn County, Plumas County, Sutter County, and Tehama County, and each of those keeps its own parcel map. A tract near the line by Gridley can show up in two county records, so open the adjacent map too. Closer to Biggs, the Platbookmapper state page links every neighboring county map for California.
Using it on a phone
Most viewers work in a phone browser, useful out on a road near Gridley, though signal can drop in rural spots. A printout of the tract near Biggs is a good backup.
Getting a copy
For a parcel near Paradise, many recorder offices offer an online index, while others require a visit or a request; copy fees are usually small.
Deeds, plats and who keeps them
The map is an index, not the title: recorded deeds, plats and easements for land near Oroville sit with the County Recorder. Older tracts near Biggs may trace back through many deeds, so a title company earns its fee before a purchase.
When there's no plat
Rural land near Gridley that was never subdivided is often described by metes and bounds or survey description; look for a recorded survey for land there.
Sections, lots and bearings
California uses the Public Land Survey System, which means a tract near Oroville is described by section, township and range. Each section is nominally a mile square, about 640 acres, with 36 sections to a township, though sections near Oroville can be irregular. Copy the legal description from the record for the parcel near Paradise when you talk to a surveyor.
Limits of the parcel data
Parcel lines are drawn for taxes, not surveyed, so a tree line near Gridley may sit several feet off the line on screen. With a lot near Oroville, records update in batches, so a deed recorded last month can take weeks to appear.
Chico: common questions
Can I build on an easement in Chico?
Short answer: building on an easement near Biggs is generally restricted; ask planning staff if unsure.
Are old plats online near Oroville?
It depends, but older plats near Biggs may be on film or paper.
How do I read lot and block in Chico?
Good question; it points to a spot on the plat for that subdivision near Paradise; the deed names the subdivision.
Is a plat map a survey around Paradise?
For a parcel near Gridley, GIS parcels are tax drawings, and the recorded plat is the legal document; trust the plat when they differ.
What's a legal description for land near Oroville?
In and around Paradise, deeds use lot and block, metes and bounds or survey descriptions; copy it for any survey or title request.
Open the official Butte County, CA parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.