On Saturday, September 24, 2022, Wild Bear held its 21st Annual Enchanted Forest event, and it was a smashing success. The event, which was held at 88 Indian Peaks Drive in Nederland, featured events such as face painting, live music, and tours through a looping trail. The tours, as per usual, featured costumed animal characters that told audience members what they were and how they behaved. Animals this year included a bear, fox, eagle, moose and salamander.

Last year’s 20th Annual Enchanted Forest saw the highest numbers in the history of the event, with nearly 1,000 people attending throughout the course the day. This year shared a similar attendance. Booths were scattered all along the trail, and the event also featured a live magician, live owls and bald eagle and a friendly neighborhood yak.

Wild Bear is currently celebrating its upcoming net-zero emission nature center, which was initiated this year, with the foundation and framing to be completed by the next Enchanted Forest, the last Saturday in September 2023. The building will be powered by the sun and will be giving back energy to the Town of Nederland. It will be free to the public, with hands-on exhibits, a nature playscape and a half-mile interpreted trail that is on Wild Bear’s property at 88 Indian Peaks Drive, adjacent to the almost 3,000 acres of Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch Open Space. Wild Bear has been partnered with Boulder County since 1999, when it helped clean up over 30 tons of trash on the Mud Lake property to help make it one of the healthiest wetlands in Boulder County.

During the Enchanted Forest event, guests could learn more about the nature center through either the tour guides or the education booth. Organizations such as HawkQuest also made an appearance throughout the day.

Among other reasons why the

Forest is so popular, one of the most important is the community that is spawned by it – those who appreciate nature and come out of the event wanting to protect it as much as possible.

Wild Bear founder Jill Dreves is grateful for the work of the volunteers and employees who help to make events such as the Enchanted Forest possible. She is grateful for the connection that the nature center has made to its guests and community members throughout the years. Hopefully, Enchanted Forest will continue to inspire visitors for years to come.