Keith Tice Park: Sticks Over Swings

Keith Tice Park

Fall has come to Fresno!  This means we can eat soup while we sunbathe, double our seasonal clothing options (sweaters with flip flops is a total thing here), and most importantly, the kids can go outside without overheating. I love the fall here because I’m fickle. Do I like sunshine or clouds? Hot coffee or iced? It depends on the day, and thankfully Fresno can’t decide either. We can start and stop our way into a new season together.

I have four boys and my parenting motto is, “Go outside!” We go to parks often, and Fresno has a wide variety of them.

Now is a great time to visit Keith Tice Park.  A quiet, relatively small neighborhood park situated at  Millbrook between Cole and Teague Ave, it’s only a few residential blocks from the Fresno Sugar Pine Bike Trail, which makes it a pleasant stopping place on a family bike ride. It’s a pleasant park to have a quiet picnic at; with a long winding path and picnic tables.

 

The best feature are the gigantic trees that surround the playground.  I enjoy the shade and peaceful sound of the leaves rustling, but I have to admit that the main highlight for my children are the sticks scattered on the ground, which they are constantly collecting and trying to bring home. If your kids are anything like mine, you might end up meeting “King Stick”; a king who’s royal attire consists of 12 sticks stuck through his belt loops.

There are also two large playgrounds, one for 2-5 year olds and the other for bigger kids. The toddler playground does have several open gaps where my 2 year old can lean over the edge and give me a heart attack, but usually he just wants to swing for three hours so it’s not that big of a deal. There are only two infant swings but my older kids are always too busy sword fighting with sticks to notice.

I love the path that winds around the park, it’s great for biking and walking. The park is fenced from the street so I often let my sons ride around in circles while I enjoy a nice cup of coffee in peace.

Unfortunately this is a bark filled park, which means if your kids aren’t wearing socks and shoes, you will spend all of your time taking their sandals off and removing wood chips from between their toes. Rollerblading under the trees can be tricky too, because the sticks and leaves create an obstacle course of doom. If you dare to bring rollerblades, bring bandaids and an extra pair of shoes. Don’t ask me how I know.

This park gets 4 out of 5 monkey bars from me. It’s practically perfect in every way, but I’m still a little bitter about the wood chips.