Located in a naturally occurring, acoustically sound depression in a cliff overlooking the City of Boulder, this open-air theater is one of three structures on Flagstaff Mountain built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Completed in 1934 and providing seating for 150 people, Sunrise Circle Amphitheater is comprised of twelve rows of semi-circular stone benches facing east to an elevated stone stage. Constructed of fieldstone cobbles and tinted concrete, concentric benches are nestled into two terraces and accessed by four flights of irregular sandstone steps. Encircled on three sides by ponderosa pines, the amphitheater is accessed from a nearby parking area via rustic trails lined by low fieldstone walls. A bronze plaque commemorates the construction of the amphitheater by the 809th Company of the CCC, under the supervision of James P. Solan.
Situated at the western limit of the site a short distance from Sunrise Circle is the Flagstaff Memorial. Comprised of a rectangular slab of fieldstone and a flagpole, the memorial was erected in 1932 by Nathaniel Lyon of the Grand Army of the Republic. Surrounded by a sandstone walkway and sited on an elevated outcrop, the memorial serves as a viewpoint to the valley below. The entire complex is accessible from the four and a half-mile long Flagstaff Road, constructed by the CCC at the same time as Sunrise Circle Amphitheater.
