Part of visiting the parks and wilderness of Colorado means abiding by the "leave no trace" motto, and one of the principles of this motto is to always leave what you find. Keeping things where they are not only helps to preserve nature, but it also means that the next person to visit will get the same, enjoyable experience as you.

At some parks, visitors will actually face a fine or punishment if they get caught removing any natural items. That being said, sometimes people just can't resist and end up taking things like rocks or flowers home from these places.

Three years ago, a Colorado resident found a rock in one of the state parks and took it home with them. After taking it, the park-goer decided it was cursing them with bad luck, and mailed it back to the SE Region Colorado Parks and Wildlife Office.

Whether it was really a curse, or they just felt guilt, CPW reminds park and wilderness-goers that the best practice is to only take photographs and leave footprints.