After celebratory speeches by dignitaries, children scattered throughout downtown Powell Friday in search of Bears in the Basin, a mobile-exclusive scavenger hunt created by the Park County Travel Council and designed to encourage folks to explore local attractions and businesses.

Farmer Growl, a grizzly bear holding beets and a shovel while wearing overalls and field boots, was created to celebrate Powell’s agricultural roots. Cody artist Tanner Loren also created unique bears for Cody (Buffalo Bear Cody) and Meeteetse (Amelia Bearhart) to encourage visitors to explore the historic cities’ downtown businesses. It was all done to add fun to the Council’s Cody Yellowstone Trails, he said, but he also hopes it will encourage participants to see the value of art.

“I hope that they not only get joy from the scavenger hunt, but that it resonates with them to want to create their own art,” Loren said.

The artist discovered his artistic vision well after school while working for years at the Caleco Foundry, which was hit by a tragic fire on May 29. The Bears in the Basin sculptures were some of the last bronze statues cast at the business founded 46 years ago just outside of the Cody city limits.

“We dodged a bullet,” he said about finishing the project prior to the fire. “It's pretty heartbreaking what happened.”

Loren was inspired by area artists contracting with the foundry over the years, picking up tips from them during his 21 years at the foundry.

“I had zero artistic ability before [working at Caleco]. I learned on the job and one day I grabbed some clay and just started sculpting,” he said.

A storyteller at heart, Loren strives to capture forms that bring life to Western, wildlife, and historical sculptures. His goal is to capture the West and immortalize it in bronze, transporting the viewer back in time.

Cody Yellowstone Marketing Manager Katrina Southern took the lead on the project for the council.

“This has been a long time coming, and it has all come together perfectly,” she said as families gathered at The Commons at Pond Park for the kickoff. “We've had great community support and it's something that both tourists and the kids locally can enjoy. We're just excited to bring this to the destination.”

The new scavenger hunt trail is a permanent addition to the council’s list of trails that also includes the Sippin’ Trail to breweries in Park County and the Wild West Trail, which encourages families to “live like a Cowboy” during their visits to Cody, what USA Today calls the “Best Western Town” in the country.

Businesses and attractions around Powell held special activities for participants to add to the fun, like a gummy bear counting contest won by Cyrus Middleton, who only missed the actual number by 62 bears out of the hundreds of edible candy bears. In Cody, businesses sponsored activities including a coloring booth and Meeteetse sponsored an ice cream bar and a photo booth.

Council Executive Director Ryan Hauck was excited by the turnout in Powell.

“What I love about the Powell community is, you guys always show up for stuff, especially when it's family based like this,” he said.

The project not only seeks to encourage fun in the gateway city of Cody, but to expand it to other communities along the way, Hauck said.

“It should encourage families that travel here to explore our downtowns and get away from just the main communities. [Participants] will travel to Powell, to Cody and Meeteetse and see our destinations as a whole. And it really should incentivize and encourage them to do that, hopefully in a way that's never been done before,” Hauck said.

Tourism is crucial to Park County's economy, Hauck said, and collaboration with local partners is essential to ensuring visitors find the hidden gems outside of Cody.

Powell Mayor John Wetzel, who also represents Powell on the Travel Council, said funds dedicated to tourism, collected through the lodging tax, have helped publicize communities outside of Cody.

“I have to applaud the Travel Council,” said Wetzel. “They've done a great job of analyzing communities throughout our county to do a better job of distributing tourism funds.”

He said Powell’s new mural used a portion of the county’s tourism funds.

Following roughly a year of planning, the new 50-foot-high mural was installed during a multi-day installation effort in May. It replaces a mural that, after nearly three decades hanging in the sun and rain, was showing its age.

The Park County Travel Council provided a $32,200 grant, the City of Powell chipped in $15,000 and the Moyer Foundation contributed $10,000 to pay for the construction and installation.

For more information: codyyellowstone.org/trails-passes/bears-in-the-basin