COLORADO SPRINGS — “Every day,’ said Christina Haywood with Garden of the Gods Visitor Center. It is how often lost items are found at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
The popular open space park attracts thousands of people each day. Many of those people drop or misplace their stuff.
Most of the things they lose are what you would expect. Sunglasses, hats, and clothing items.
There are also valuable and unusual items. Cell phones, bikes, also cash.
“The most surprising thing is we have so few calls asking about their lost items,” said Haywood.
Staff say the parks intrigue is partly to blame for all the lost stuff.
“We call it the vacation mindset,” said Garden of the Gods Park Operations Manager, Bret Tennis, “It's pretty easy to be blown away by the beauty of what's here and we'll see people here, their cars running, doors open, just walking away and forgetting what they left behind.”
Items in the lost and found are closely logged with details only the owner would likely know. If not claimed after a year credit cards get destroyed, cash is donated to the Garden of the Gods Foundation, and all other items go to the ARC thrift store.
There is a lesson for other travelers who may think lost items are gone forever. Haywood said, “It’s always worth making a phone call an seeing if your items have been found.”
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