If you are looking for playgrounds to check out in Modesto, CA, as a mom of twin boys with lots of energy, I have you covered!!
Whether you are trying to give them exercise, give them somewhere to go to meet up with friends, or simply give yourself a little break, here are our favorite playgrounds that both feel safe, clean, and are easily accessible!
Our Top Ten Favorite Playgrounds in Modesto, CA (and surrounding areas)
Coffee-Claratina Park
This amazing park is tucked away in a quiet neighborhood, but it has plenty to do! It is a regular go-to for us, especially in the summertime. They have two play areas–one for bigger kids, and one for younger kids, a “ravine” of rocks that kids can climb all over, a splash pad during the summer, a basketball court, a walking path, a large field to run/practice sports in, and a little bridge (my kids LOVE to play under the bridge and pretend like they are camping….its not always clean under the bridge, as it seems to catch a little bit of trash and gets muddy sometimes, but honestly it isn’t too bad! You can’t completely avoid things like this at parks). There is not a bathroom, so bring your travel potties if you need to!
Freedom Park
We love Freedom park for a few reasons. For one, the ice cream truck is always coming around. This is a great treat in the summertime ;). Also, the entire playground is padded, so if littles fall, they have some cushion. Some of our favorite features include a great walking path (we like to bring our bikes and rollerskates!), a large field where you can lay a blanket down and listen to music, a gazebo area with tables (bring your wipes!), a barbecue area, the theme is fun (rocketships!), it has a basketball court, a fantastic splash-pad for Summertime, AND they have a decent bathroom. This is probably our favorite splashpad park in the city!
Mistlin Park
Mistlin Park is actually located in Manteca, but if you live in Modesto, you know it isn’t too far away! It is relatively new, and its great for all ages. The playground has a cute little tucked-away spot where kids can pretend like they are serving food at a restaraunt, as well as a gazebo-area with plenty of tables that is close to the park. It also has a huge grassy field that is much lower than the playground, so our boys love to hill-roll down the grass to the bottom where the field is. I think that’s honestly their favorite thing to do there. They also have a great splash-pad! (Can you tell we love splash-pads? ha)
Resindez Family Fruit Barn
We call this the Super Mario park. This park boosts plenty of seats for parents, lots of tubes to crawl through and areas to climb and explore, as well as individual spinners where kids can climb on and make themselves sick to their hearts content, a pond where you can feed turtles and fish, as well as livestock animals to feed and talk to (including goats, ducks, peacocks, chickens, and even TURTLES!!), a FARM behind the park where kids can watch things grow, and of COURSE, the barn. The barn hosts dried fruits, snacks, smoothies, and sweet treats. You can also rent the gazebo here for birthday parties!
Aqueduct Park
This is a brand new park (as of 2025) in Modesto. It has some unique playground equipment, which is fun! We come here if we don’t have as much time to play, but honestly you can spend as long as you want. There isn’t a lot of seating for adults, so bring a chair or a blanket with you to sit. The nice thing is, everything is visible, and it isn’t so large that you can’t see your kid at all times. It’s also newer, so you can enjoy the fresh smell of cedar chips ;). The bright colors are super fun, and it has a big round spinner where groups of kids can sit while someone spins them :).
Sherwood Park
Sherwood park is another cute little tucked-away park. It is smaller, but just the right size for kids up to age 5/6. This park has a nice little area where exercise groups like to meet on the weekends (We actually joined a Zumba class there once on accident! It was super fun!), a walking path, and these super cool food-delivery robots that often park there. You may even see one in action someday!
Woodward Community Park (Manteca)
This park is another one of our favorites. We call it the Yellow Park, because, as you can guess, the equipment is very yellow! :). If you have kids age 4 and up, they will have a blast running all over the sprawled-out equipment, climbing up super high (Yes! It is 3 levels tall!), going down the giant twisty slide (there are actually a lot of slides here!), and swinging! They DO have a smaller park area for younger kids, so don’t be afraid to go if you have younger kids, as well! They have a basketball court, walking path, gazebo area for parties, a bathroom, and it just feels good to be there. It does tend to attract bees during bee season, so if you have an allergy, Spring and Summer may not be the best months for you to go. But besides that, its absolutely worth the trip!!
Wesson Ranch Park
Wesson Ranch is another park tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in Modesto. It has a picnic table placed right next to the play area, which is nice, as well as a field where kids can play baseball or fly drones or do whatever their hearts want to do ;). One of the nice aspects of this park is that it has a lot of shaded parts, especially in the grassy area, as it boasts many trees. While it does not have a splash pad, it does have two play areas for various age groups. This is one of our favorite parks to play with friend groups, as they love to pretend like they are on pirate ships :).
Oregon Park
This park is fully fenced in. YES, you heard me…fully fenced in!! It has about 5 exits, but you can close them. For those of you who have elopers, this is a huge deal. The play equipment is super fun, as well! I WILL say, this isn’t in the best area of Modesto. So keep that in mind. Maybe bring a friend with you. But for those of us who have kids who run, sometimes, parks like this really are the safest option! It also has a splash pad, which is a huge bonus in the Summertime!
Empire Pools
Ok, so this area has both a regular play structure on the exterior, and then if you wanted to pay to enjoy the water feature, there is a park INSIDE the water area that will dump buckets of water on those on it. It’s almost like a mini-adventure park, if you have ever been to one of those. The pool area has one large 4-foot pool, and then about 15 feel away is the kids area with a 1-foot water play/playground spot is. This is a HOT feature in Summer! 🙂 The pool area is open from 12-2, and from 2:30-4:00/4:30.
While this list is definitely not complete (there are MANY playgrounds in Modesto, CA), I hope this is a good launching point as you start planning your Summer! We all know kids have a lot of energy, and they need a variety of places to burn it! 🙂
