Abstract: An athletic field or playground having an essentially planar surface consisting, at least in part, of tree bark particles consolidated to form an essentially tread resistant top layer of the athletic field or playground; the top layer consists, at least predominantly, of a mixture of particulate tree bark and of flexible fibers dispersed in the mixture; an at least predominant portion of the fibers has a fiber length that is greater than the average largest dimension of the tree bark particles. Natural or synthetic fibers may be used in the mixture if their rot resistance is at least about that of the tree bark particles, and coconut fibers each having a length of at least about 2 inches and used in a proportion of from about 0.01 to 10%, based upon the dry weight of the tree bark, are a typical example.