Chautauqua Park Bears 2025

The bears are back in Boulder!

No, not real bears. Those are hopefully still hibernating for the Winter. 

I’m talking about the colorful bear sculptures that call Boulder’s Chautauqua Park home each Winter for Art In The Park.

Art In The Park is an annual fundraiser for Chautauqua Park. Each Winter, colorful bear sculptures are auctioned off to raise money for the upkeep of the buildings and grounds of this National Historic Landmark. These fiberglass bear sculptures all start out as the same blank canvas, but thanks talented artists, no two bears end up alike.

This year, as well as the fifteen large bears that can be found outside, there are also an additional ten mini bears on display in buildings throughout the park.

Let’s take a look at this year’s bears…

Superior Prairie Dogs

If you've been following along for a while you'll know that I'm a big fan of scavenger hunts, especially when it involves public art. So when I learned about the painted prairie dog sculptures dotted around nearby Superior last year, I knew it was definitely something I needed to check out with the kids.

Like the hearts in San Francisco, and the bears in Boulder's Chautauqua Park, these prairie dog sculptures feature colorful designs by local artists and add a touch of whimsy to the area. 

The prairie dogs are all located within the town of Superior and can easily be found in just a few hours, but we spread our search out over quite a few months, finding one or two prairie dogs here and there while out. We've finally found them all, so today I'm sharing them here with you. If you're following along on Instagram you're likely seen a few of them over there already. If you're not following along on Instagram, click here to follow. I'm a little better at staying up to date over there!

So, without further ado, here are all the Superior prairie dogs. I've listed them in the same order they appear on the map, which you can download here.

Boulder Bear Statues

If you've been here a while you'll know that I love a good scavenger hunt and that I'm a big fan of street art. I'm an even bigger fan of these to things coming together!

So when a friend told me about the painted bear sculptures in Boulder's Chautauqua Park as part of the Art in the Park program, I knew we needed to check them out. 

Unlike other sculpture scavenger hunts that we've done, these painted bears are all contained in a relatively small area, making it an easy activity for kids of all ages. There are fifteen painted bear cubs along with one large mama bear sculpture located within just a few blocks from each other. In fact, some of them are so close to each other that you can often see multiple bears at any one time. 
 
Over the Winter break the kids and I headed to Chautauqua Park to search for the bears. I didn't think to download the map first (which you can find here), but we had no problem finding all the bears none the less. It was pretty chilly when we visited, which you can probably tell from the pics, and the combination of cold air and mask wearing made for pretty fogged up glasses for Mathilde. She totally had a Dr Bunsen look happening until I took her glasses off! There weren't other people around but the kids kept their masks on anyway to keep their faces warm. Last Winter Lola wished for a face warmer; this Winter she's got one!

Anyway, let's take a look at those painted bears...