Uptown Charlotte Sculpture Walk

Urban Hike with Kids

I love a trip uptown with children. The children I’ve taught have mostly lived in Charlotte and certainly gone to school in the city. And still our arrival (or even driving by on the Brookshire!) into the city of skyscrapers and crowded buildings elicits excitement.

We’ve had all kinds of trips uptown. Most often it’s a trip to the Mint Museum or ImaginOn. We used to make a yearly trek to see the Singing Bears in Founders Hall in December (now they are in Kannapolis!) and have made lots of other urban treks over the years.

And a few times we have done a walk to look at sculpture. Below is an easy flow through some of the uptown statues and large scale 3-D art. ImaginOn is almost always our starting place, because it allows for an easy gathering and drop off space. However, we also like to ride the city bus into town. The Sculpture Walk below starts at ImaginOn and ends at Romare Bearden.

START: ImaginOn

Sculpture: Writer’s Desk

WALK .17 mi (~3-4 minutes) to 200 N. College Street

Sculpture: Queen Charlotte Statue

WALK .14 mi (~3 min) to Independence Square

Sculpture: The Four & Grand Disco

WALK .16 mi (~3 min) to Carillon Building

Sculpture: Cascade

WALK 0.03 mi (~1 min, same block)

Sculpture: Zygos

WALK 0.25 mi (~5 min) to Wells Fargo Plaza Fountain

Sculpture: Children’s Fountain

WALK 0.11 mi (~2 min) to The Green

Sculptures: Fountain of Big Spitting Fish & Life Is an Open Book

WALK 0.05 mi (~1 min, next door) to Bechtler Museum

Sculpture: Firebird

WALK 0.17 mi (~3-4 min) to Romare Bearden Park

Sculpture Spiral Odyssey

TOTAL: ~1.1 miles Estimated time at kid's pace with stops: 2-2.5 hours

Notes:

Bathrooms are easily available at ImaginOn, The Carrilon Building, The Green and Romare Bearden.

Here is the scavenger hunt I made with all the statues. Kids love carrying this around on our quest and marking them off. Feel free to print this if useful. PDF version here.