Touring *

From State Highway 99, take the Pinedale/Herndon Avenue exit and head east for eight miles on Herndon until you pass under State Highway 41. About 1.75 miles after that junction, turn right on Cedar Avenue and proceed south to Bieden Field on the right, home of the Cal State Fresno Bulldogs. As long as there isn't a game in progress, curbside parking should be available on Barstow Street or San Jose Street, bordering the north and south edges of the arena, respectively. Parking on campus is prohibited without a permit, and violators risk being towed. The sports-field access to the campus is across Cedar and north a short way up the sidewalk, through the fence entryway.

Crisscrossed with a network of wide, flat concrete paths, Fresno's Cal State University is beautiful in the evening light, especially the walkways and buildings of the southwest corner of campus, which are surrounded by lawn and shade trees. The campus is ideally laid out for in-line commuting between classes (excluding those held near the farmland north of campus). Cruise around the library, the student union building, the cafeteria, and up the wide avenue to the big fountain. It's easy to put five miles on your skates if you add the circle around Bullfrog Stadium, though the scenery isn't that great out this way, and two or three severely pitted driveways interrupt the smooth concrete sidewalk. In general, the asphalt roads on campus are very rough and worth avoiding. There are only a couple of short man-made slopes, and the ramps on either side of the cafeteria probably get pretty crowded when it's open. You'll find a better, less-crowded hill near the dumpsters behind the Extended Education building on Cedar, near the Maple Street campus entrance. Hundreds of heel brake marks can be detected at the bottom of this short hill, curving right up to the loading dock doors--a sure sign that someone besides you has been having a lot of fun here.