City of Boulder · department · BPR
Parks & Recreation
“The Parks and Recreation Department promotes the health and well-being of the entire Boulder community by collaboratively providing high-quality parks, facilities, and programs.” source as of 2026-10-30
Who runs it
AI-read · unreviewed read by a model from the city's pages, the Charter, the code and the budget books; every quote checked against its saved source; not reviewed by a person. Hover a source for its words.Researcher's note: Division heads are given only where the title printed beside the name on the department's staff contact list (2026-10-30) itself says the person manages that division: only the Forestry Manager. No staff emails are copied. Recreation center passes: no city service page was found (tried /services/recreation-center-passes, /services/passes-and-memberships, /services/recreation-passes, /passes, /recreation-passes, /rec-passes: all 404), so the service is not listed.
- Head
- Alison Rhodes, Parks & Recreation Director as of 2026-10-30 source
- Answers to
- City Manager. The department works under the direction, supervision and control of the city manager; the city manager appoints and may remove the director of parks and recreation. Head appointed by City Manager. source source source
- Legal basis
- Contact
- 303-413-7200 · parks-rec@bouldercolorado.gov · 3198 Broadway Boulder , CO 80304 · contact page source as of 2026-10-30
Boards and commissions it staffs
Budget
from the city's approved budget books; each figure printed, to the dollar, in its source (hover a source for its words). A year may come from a different book or table than the next: the table says what each covers| Year | Basis | Amount | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | approved | $44,719,257 | department total as the 2024 Approved Budget's department page prints it ('2024 Budget'), all funds. The 2026 book's FY2024 column prints $43,719,257 for the same department. source |
| 2025 | approved | $44,562,212 | department total as the 2025 Approved Budget's department page prints it ('2025 Budget'), all funds. The 2026 book's FY2025 column prints $40,262,212 for the same department. source |
| 2026 | approved | $40,764,360 | all funds: department expenses total, FY2026 budget, 2026 Annual Budget's Department Budget by Program and Expense Type table (also its pie chart total and the department's about page) source source source |
Divisions
in the city's own words; heads only where an official source names them- Administration
“Administration for the department includes the department leadership, finance, marketing, communications, information technology, staff training and development, and business planning and process improvement analysis.” source - Community Building & Partnership
“The Community Building & Partnership team provides camps, EXPAND, Youth Services Initiative (YSI) and other recreation programming for people with disabilities and low-income families and volunteer efforts.” source - Natural Resources
“Natural Resources manages the urban forestry and natural lands.” source source - Forestry Division · Kathleen Alexander, Forestry Manager source
“Boulder Forestry manages approximately 51,000 public trees in city parks and street rights-of-way.” source source source source page - Park Operations
“The Park Operations team maintains more than 80 parks including sports fields, playgrounds, picnic shelters, skate parks, the Pearl Street Mall, the Civic Area, Valmont City Park, community parks, neighborhood parks, pocket parks, dog parks and more.” source - Planning, Design & Construction
“The Planning, Design & Construction program area manages capital project planning, design and construction, and twelve historic and cultural resources.” source - Recreation Operations
“The Recreation Operations team performs the day-to-day management of the community’s recreation centers and outdoor pools along with sports, health and wellness, aquatics and general recreation programming.” source - Urban Park Rangers
“Urban Park Rangers help foster safe and welcoming parks and facilities, provide security to visitors and staff by enforcing rules and regulations, creatively solve problems, build relationships, and engage community members to experience nature close to home.” source
What a resident can do here
services and programs, linked to the city's pages- Online Registration source
- Recreation Guide “Check out the Recreation Guide and choose from hundreds of classes and programs for people of all ages and abilities.” source
- Youth Camps source
- Swim Lessons source
- Park Shelter Reservations source
- Sports Field Rentals source
- Parks and Recreation Financial Aid Program source
- Reservoir Swimming source
- Reservoir Boat Permits source
- Flatirons Golf Course “Join us at Flatirons Golf Course for a round of golf, or to practice and work on your game.” source
- Street Tree Planting Program source
- Report a Public Tree Issue source
- Volunteer with Parks & Recreation source