Kearney Park
Fresno County’s first park encompasses 240 acres on Kearney Boulevard, 7 miles west of Fresno.
Located in the park is Kearney Mansion Museum.
Picnic facilities, including group reservation areas, are available for public use.
Sport facilities include soccer fields, horseshoe pits, two softball fields and
four playground areas. 7160 W. Kearney Blvd. Fresno, CA (559) 600-3004
Oso de Oro Lake Park
Since opening in June 1995, Sloan Johnson Oso de Oro Lake Park has been the recipient of National and State awards for innovation and design excellence, as it is uniquely designed to be "accessible" to all. The nine-acre park site combines its primary function of storm water retention with secondary functions of groundwater recharge and recreation. The park features picnic pavilions, two main play structures, a wheelchair basketball court, an interpretive maze for visually impaired visitors, a live stream and water flume, an antique riverboat and mining town, an old fort and tunnel, and a lake and docks. Open daily. 5550 N. Forkner Fresno, CA (559) 621-2900
Roeding Park
This 157-acre park features the Chaffee Zoo,
Playland and Storyland, tennis courts, two lakes,
boat rentals, barbecues, picnic areas, playgrounds and fishing. Open daily.
890 W. Belmont Ave. Fresno, CA (559) 621-2900
Trolley Creek Park
This uniquely "accessible" park incorporates a taste of Fresno's history presented with replicas of the famous Meux Home Mansion, Fresno Water Tower, a 1920 Birney trolley car, walk bridges, and a dry model of Dry Creek. It also features two picnic pavilions--each with two barbeques, approximately an acre of open green space, two main play structures and swings, and an amphitheater complete with electrical outlets. The three-acre park is adjacent to a nine-acre landscaped ponding basin with a permanent water feature and wildlife observation dock. Open daily. 5110 E. Huntington Blvd. Fresno (North of Kings Canyon and east of Winery), CA (559) 621-2900
Woodward Park
This 300-acre park and bird sanctuary features picnic shelters, playgrounds, dog park, a lake,
disc golf, the Shinzen Japanese Garden and trails. Open daily. Audubon and Friant. (559) 621-2900
Forestiere Underground Gardens
Beneath the hot arid surface of the San Joaquin Valley, Baldasare Forestiere (1879-1946)
began in the early 1900s to sculpt a fantastic retreat. Excavating the hardpan by hand,
he created a unique complex of underground rooms, passages and gardens that ramble throughout a
10-acre parcel. His work continues to be preserved as a living monument to a creative and
individualistic spirit unbounded by conventionality. Forestiere spent 40 years sculpting an
underground complex consisting of a network of underground rooms, an underground garden home, arches
and stonework patterned after the catacombs of Ancient Rome, an auto tunnel running the length of the
gardens, and a chapel and chapel garden. Forestiere adorned these areas with a unique variety of
trees including strawberry, carob, jujube, numerous citrus (many on one tree), pomegranate, mulberry,
date palm, avocado, quince, and persimmon. Guided tours are available Wed. through Sun. in summer, and
weekends off-season, at noon and 2:00 p.m. Shaw & Hwy 99 Fresno, CA (559) 271-0734
Clovis Botanical Garden
The Clovis Botanical Garden is a place to relax, to bring family and enjoy plants that thrive in Clovis.
The garden is filled with intriguing landscapes, water wise trees, herbs, California native plants and
aromatic shrubs from the Mediterranean. The garden is located at 945 N. Clovis Ave., north of Alluvial
and south of Nees and is open to the public on Saturday mornings. No admission fee.
Call (559) 333-0857 for hours. 945 N. Clovis Ave. Clovis, CA
Garden of the Sun
The University of California Cooperative Extension, through its Master Gardener Program, has developed
a one acre ornamental and food production demonstration garden at the Discovery Center. The garden
includes an extensive orchard of fruit trees and vines; beds of vegetables, herbs, perennials, cut flowers,
an All-American Selections Garden, and a compost demonstration area. Also featured in the Garden are
specialty gardens for children and the physically challenged. The Garden of the Sun is open to the
public Monday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. also Wednesday evenings from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. through the Discovery Center or through the garden
gate when Master Gardeners are present. Master Gardeners are available to answer home gardening questions
on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tours are available by appointment.
1750 N. Winery Ave. Fresno, CA (559) 456-4151
Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden
Experience the beautiful and serene 5-acre Shinzen Friendship Garden planned around the four seasons,
with distinctive plantings in each area. Paved pathways lead you through the Spring Section where azaleas,
camellias, crabapples, irises, flowering cherries and plums are a viewer's delight. The cooling waters of
the Koi Pond are the centerpiece of the Summer Section. Tulip trees, Chinese pistache and tallow trees
display their bright fall colors in the Autumn Section. A large waterfall, pines and evergreens dominate
the Winter Section. The Garden is also proud to be home to a thatched roof Japanese Teahouse, one of
the two authentic teahouses in the Continental United States.
Annual events in the Garden include: the Spring Blossom
Festival, Toro Nagashi (Floating Lantern) Ceremony; the Shinzen Cultural Faire and the Fall Color
Festival. The Garden is located inside of Woodward Park, Fresno, CA (559) 840-1264
See also:
Discovery Center Museum of Science & Natural History (Science & Nature)
