Superstitious tourist afraid of curse mails stolen rocks back to Utah national park

Will taking rocks from a popular Utah national park curse you? One tourist didn’t want to take any chances.

A superstitious visitor of Bryce Canyon National Park returned rocks to the national park by mailing them back, the park said Sunday.

“We were recently surprised to receive rocks in the mail from Kamuela, Hawaii, that clearly belonged to Bryce Canyon,” Bryce Canyon National Park officials said on Facebook.

Other national parks are used to receiving stolen park artifacts in the mail because tales of curses and bad luck have been passed down and become folklore.

Hundreds of people have returned lava rocks to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and Haleakalā National Park because they fear the “curse of Pele.” The legend is that the goddess of fire and volcanoes will bring rock thieves bad luck and misfortune.

A similar myth exists at Petrified Forest National Park that states stealing petrified wood and rocks brings bad luck, McClatchy News reported. Rangers at the California park receive letters and packages from people who hope returning the piece of nature will cure them of misfortune.

There is no known “curse,” however, at Bryce Canyon National Park, and it’s rare that rocks or other natural items are returned, officials said.

“While no known legends exist for the unfortunate consequences of removing resources from Bryce Canyon, it is punishable by law,” the park said. “It is also damaging to this fragile geologic formation. While taking a few rocks from the park may not seem like a big deal, imagine if all two and a half million annual visitors to Bryce Canyon decided to do the same.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Superstitious tourist afraid of curse mails stolen rocks back to Utah national park."