"Sprouts Rock" becomes Colorado legend after several cars get stuck
Move over Castle Rock; there's a new rock in town.
Neighbors in the Colorado town say at least 10 cars have become stuck on a rock in the Sprouts parking lot, turning it into a local legend.
The rock can't talk, so a local man has decided to be its voice.
"Drive safe out there or you'll meet me soon," the man going by "Sprouts Rock" said.
He created a Facebook account for the rock after it gained infamy in recent weeks.
"My profile has about 1,300 Facebook friends and grows every day," Sprouts Rock said.
He posts photos of the rock's many victims; small to mid-size cars that appear to have turned too sharply and ended up on top of it.
"I couldn't believe it. I mean, there were some days where two or three cars would hit this thing and get stuck," Sprouts Rock said. "I know for certain there's 10 cars that have gotten stuck, but I wanna say there's probably 15-plus."
"It became a regular occurrence seeing these photographs of these cars on top of the rock," Castle Rock resident David Chapa said.
Chapa runs a Facebook group where poor driving behavior in Douglas County is discussed. The rock soon became a hot topic on the page and the phenomenon captured hearts and minds across town.
"It just continued to eat cars and its reputation has grown," Castle Rock resident Jason Mantia said.
Neighbors created memes and new groups on social media.
"I thought it'd be humorous to post rock puns and haikus and all that kind of fun stuff," Sprouts Rock said.
But just as the rock rose to icon status, it vanished.
"All of a sudden that afternoon that I started creating all those memes, someone posted a picture that the rock had disappeared, and we were all saddened by it," Chapa said.
It was replaced by a new, larger rock.
"Later that afternoon, before end of business, this new friend showed up," Chapa said.
"This rock is actually Sprouts Rock 2.0. It's obviously bigger so folks can see it, but the original rock was only maybe 8 inches in the air so folks would hit it without even seeing it," Sprouts Rock said.
Fans created a memorial for the original Sprouts Rock, which they eventually spotted elsewhere in the parking lot.
"Flowers, teddy bears, mini cars getting stuck on the rock. More rocks on top of the rocks," Sprouts Rock said.
"Every time we're out here, we like to leave a little something on it," Mantia said.
In a time of division in America, the rock has risen as a symbol of unity.
"We were saying Sprouts Rock for president because it's uniting Castle Rock," Sprouts Rock said.
It's become the hero Castle Rock didn't know it needed.
"When something or someone can unite a community like this, it's pretty cool," Chapa said.
It's not clear whether anyone has hit the new rock since it was placed.
CBS News Colorado reached out to Castle Rock police to ask how many cars have hit the rock and the town of Castle Rock to learn more about where the rock came from and if there are plans to move it but did not hear back over the holiday weekend. So for now, the rock's origins remain a mystery.