Where Can You Buy Painted Kindness Rocks

People leave behind painted rocks to burnish strangers' days, just in national parks they're fueling controversy and less-than-civil argue.

The squabble started on a weekend afternoon last September with a Facebook post about a rock painted to expect like a ladybug. While acknowledging that leaving painted rocks for others to find is a fun action, staff at Catoctin Mount Park in Maryland respectfully reminded visitors that doing so violated the national park site's leave-no-trace policy.

And then the floodgates opened.

"You lot are being ridiculous," wrote 1 commenter. "Stop being a stick in the mud," wrote another. "Just don't leave painted rocks in the park. What's so difficult about that?" a 3rd responded. "Why do people feel entitled to everything?" Many posters were civil, but it wasn't long before others were equating painted rocks with unwanted graffiti and comparing the creators to animals that marker their territory with urine.

Past the time the dust had settled, the seemingly innocuous message had elicited more comments than whatsoever of the park's other Facebook posts last year, surpassing one about an exciting carry sighting at a campground and another asking visitors about their favorite fungus. "We were a trivial bit surprised, to be honest," said Peggie Gaul, the park's acting principal of interpretation.

This kind of heated banter is common on social media, merely it was remarkable given that the chief goal of so-called kindness rocks is to bring a little chip of joy, hope or comfort to the strangers who find them. "Looking at these comments, I'm like 'Wow!'" said Jen Retterer, who joined the online conversation about Catoctin and runs a painted rocks group out of Columbia, Maryland. "This is non exactly what we're trying to do here."

Jump 2018 - Kindness Rocks All is Calm

Most kindness rocks enthusiasts, including the one behind this stone, don't leave their creations in national parks, but the painted rocks have shown up at park sites across the country nonetheless.

Stone art is an age-old pursuit, but the latest craze tin be traced to 2015, when Megan Irish potato founded the Kindness Rocks Project. During long walks on Greatcoat Cod beaches, Spud had a addiction of looking for certain kinds of rocks every bit signs from her belatedly parents. She wondered if others would be receptive to rocks bearing messages, so ane day she picked up a marker and wrote short inspirational phrases on five rocks for other beach walkers to discover. Past coincidence, a friend of Murphy's establish 1 of the rocks among the thousands of others on that beach, and — unaware that Tater was the creator — texted her to say the discovery had made her 24-hour interval. "That's why I say information technology was divinely inspired," White potato said. Convinced she was onto something, she continued painting rocks and leaving them on the beach, later writing #thekindnessrocksproject on the back to encourage people finding them to post pictures on social media.

Soon, people all over the country and beyond were painting rocks, and personal stories started pouring in. Murphy said she learned of someone contemplating suicide who changed course after finding a kindness rock. A marine deployed in Nihon told her the painted rock he institute there was "like a hug from home." Local groups created Facebook pages, where painted rock enthusiasts can mail photos, communicate about go-togethers and comment on each other's artwork.

"It'southward a social connexion," said Cindy Lung Dwyer, whose Hager Rocks Facebook group in Hagerstown, Maryland, counts more than than 4,600 members. "People support each other."

As the popularity of kindness rocks grew, the project expanded across the founder'south vision. Some enthusiasts began emphasizing the art over hopeful messages such as "be kind" or "yous are loved"; others organized scavenger hunts — a do that some traditionalists pout upon. In add-on, the rocks started showing upwards in places where they were not wanted.

The Kindness Rocks Project and most local groups have very clear rules and guidelines about using non-toxic sealants, asking local officials and business owners for permission to leave rocks on their premises, and adopting policies that are respectful of the environment. They as well tell members not to leave rocks in national parks. Still rangers at national park sites all over the state take been finding painted rocks on trails, well-nigh visitor centers or on Ceremonious State of war monuments. The scenario has played out in much the same way at Olympic National Park in Washington, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming and Vicksburg National Armed services Park in Mississippi, amidst others. In all those cases, park staff issued a gentle admonition on Facebook, simply the employ of the give-and-take "trash" or "litter" was sufficient to prepare off a torrent of outrage.

Amid the name-calling and finger-pointing on these forums at to the lowest degree one positive theme has emerged: While not everyone agrees almost where to draw the line between recreation and preservation, the participants intendance deeply virtually national parks. At Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in New Mexico, the chat swirled around questions of "what parks should and should non be," said Rita Garcia, the chief of interpretation there, "and I'm very pleased because this is what people should be thinking almost."

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Some other bright side: Despite the sometimes acrimonious online debates, some people have found out most kindness rocks on these forums, and others have learned nearly the importance of minimizing visitors' bear on on the environment, which, after all, was the original intent of the national parks' reminders. Spud admitted she didn't know virtually leave-no-trace principles until she was attacked on social media early for posting a moving picture of a painted rock in a natural setting. At present that she'south better informed, every adventure Murphy gets she promotes these principles, which include packing out trash, respecting wildlife, and leaving plants, animals, artifacts and (non-painted) rocks in parks. Retterer does her part, too. She reminds members of her group of "Respectful Rockin'" rules, and she works with moderators of other Facebook groups to go the word out.

"The whole point of it is kindness," she said, "so we have to brand sure we are also kind to nature."

Nicolas Brulliard Senior Editor

Nicolas is a journalist and former geologist who joined NPCA in November 2015. He writes and edits online content for NPCA and serves as senior editor of National Parks magazine.