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Recreation

No other place on Earth offers the variety of recreational opportunities that the Central San Joaquin Valley can offer, and Fresno is right in the middle of it all. Fishing, camping, skiing, boating, hiking, swimming, hand-gliding, parachuting, hot air ballooning, rock climbing, hunting, water skiing and bird watching are just some of the things to do, and all of these are either located in Fresno, or just a short drive away. People come from around the world to take part in the vast recreational pastimes of the Fresno area.

The city of Fresno offers its citizens plenty of choices inside the city limits. Numerous parks line the city, each offering its own specialty of activities to take part in. Most parks offer places to spend the day with the whole family, including facilities that will be sure to make a day to remember. Softball fields, swimming pools, BBQ pits, jungle gyms for the kids, plenty of trees for shade and manicured lawns make Fresno parks a paradise for the weekend, when all you want to do is relax and forget about the stresses of the week.

Roading Park houses the city zoo, along with acre upon acre of park facilities.

Kearney Park, Fresno County's first park, includes 240 acres of parkland and features picnic and playground facilities. Also located here is the Historical Kearney Museum.

Three-hundred acre Woodward Park offers challenging obstacle courses and its many lakes offer a superb view of local wildlife. The park also provides picnic grounds, play areas and a Japanese garden complete with a fishpond.

The 70-acres of Lost Lake Recreation Area offers a nature study area and the lake itself offers the fisherman an opportunity to try his hand out on the local trout population. The day-use area includes a softball field, picnic areas complete with BBQ pits and benches, a play area for the kids and a volleyball facility.

Millerton Lake State Park is a haven for boaters and water ski enthusiasts, with mild temperatures on the lake most of the year. From December through February, visitors can hop aboard the Eagle Eye Barge for a guided boat ride to observe native wildlife in their natural environment. In March, take part in the wildflower/vernal pool tours that are offered by park rangers.

The lifeline of the agriculturally dependent San Joaquin Valley is the San Joaquin River, and it is on this river that most of the recreation activities of the residents of Fresno take place. Along this mighty river is the San Joaquin River Parkway, 22 miles of trails, wildlife habitat, and recreation areas.

Some of California’s mightiest whitewater rivers thunder through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Kings River Expeditions offer guests one and two-day river trips, providing all the necessary equipment and trained river guides.

Sierra Summit Mountain Resort, 65 miles northeast of Fresno, and Badger Pass, located in Yosemite National Park, offer two of the best ski and snowboarding accommodations in the country.

Yosemite National Park, located just 92 miles north of Fresno, is filled with crystal clear pools, alpine carpeted meadows, an abundant wildlife population and thousands of acres of Giant Sequoia trees. The park boasts one of the most famous and most climbed rocks on earth — Half Dome Rock. Other attractions at the park include El Capitan, Sentinel Rock and Cathedral Rock. Spanning the height of a 62-story building, Yosemite Falls, one of North America’s biggest waterfalls, drops 2,425 feet.

Sequoia National Park, the second oldest national park in the United States, is home to the largest living giant sequoia tree, the General Sherman. A 328,000-acre preserve protects these natural wonders in 33 different groves.