This park is amazing. It has everything! If there was a high standard and example of a perfect park this might be it. So much going on its great. The city of Fresno did a wonderful job. They placed it somewhat in the center west end of the city so you have a mixed diversity of social classes and cultures. So much for the argument of people saying the city only caters to people north of Shaw.
The design and features are so much to talk about, it's best to try to make the most of it by seeing pictures--which still dont do it justice. You really have to just go and check it out. They is a community center right in the middle. There are basketball courts, a skate park, a water play area, a HUGE playground, nice open fields, a separate swing area, an enclosed dog park, a cool looking hill with a telescope to see everything. Walkways and paths. A baseball field. A sensory garden. And a fitness playground. Areas to have a picnic and BBQ. I think that is most of it.
The city used a lot of drought resistent lanscaping. Obviously not the actual open areas of grass, but the plant lanscaping and also the baseball field. It's not grass. It's entirely a composite field. It has fences and bleachers too. The basketball courts are nice! The ground surface is smooth, full court with 3 point baselines (some cheap out and dont have that little open section) it's pretty accurate but no NBA 3 point line. Just standard highschool/college 3 point outlined. The boards are square, the rims look reinforced and have nets. AND the hoops are all height adjustable. So if you have young kids this is very cool. I just hope these are heavy duty because I could see teens and adults abusing this and ruining them. The dog park is enclosed and fenced and very nice space for your dogs to run around. The playground itself is massive. So much to do for all ages. The ground in this area is the soft spongy bouncy feel to help with falls. They even have new playground machines I've never ever seen. There is this astroglider where it's a cart and you just use your weight to make it sway back and forth. Great for parents and little ones. Then they have this hydraulic type pole slide. It automatically comes back up, then there is a small platform so when the kid steps on it--slowly does it come down. So even younger kids can experience going down the pole like firefighters. This was very cool and unique. The play area is completely shaded. This still won't help in the summer when it hits 100+ but its nice that they thought of it. For during these hot days they have a water play area. I'm not sure when they decide to turn it on. It was off when I went, but its nice to see they have one. There is even a chalkboard area where kids can doodle. There is a skate park too but I didn't get a chance to see it.
Park is very clean, and nicely thought out. Check out the website to see all the features
http://www.inspirationpark.org/index.html
The only problem though..... This park gets PACKED! So if you get intimidated by big crowds, get their early and leave before the crowd because it does and will get packed. You can see the lack of social media presence in the Fresno area. For how big the city is and how popular this park is, it opened several months ago in 2016 and this is only the 2nd review. I hope the citizens appreciate this park and take good care of it because it's a great thing for the city.
YELP TIP.. the hours posted here on yelp is not always true. Hours change by season but yelp wont allow to add those, so as of this posting the hours are:
Winter Hours: 7am to 7pm
Summer Hours: 8am to 10 pm read more