Colorado Park Rangers Are Desperate to Know Why They Have a Photo of Conan O’Brien in Their Office
2025 has already been a trying time for National Parks. Sweeping layoffs have thrown operations into a state of “chaos” just months before the busy summer season kicks off. And state parks have their own problems, too. Park offices are absolutely littered with framed 8x10s of famous comedians. Okay, it’s just one photo in one office, but still.
While Conan O’Brien was preparing to host Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s official social media account tagged him a post. Why? Because they want to know why there is currently a framed, autographed photo of the former late-night host in the offices of Roxborough State Park in Littleton, Colorado. “No one knows the story, and we would really love to,” they wrote.
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Shockingly, Conan didn’t get back to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife account while he was busy MC’ing Hollywood’s Biggest Night. But even in the days that followed, O’Brien hasn’t responded, despite posting other, non-parks related content. This slight prompted the parks department to post a sad SpongeBob SquarePants meme.
The low-stakes mystery was intriguing enough to attract the attention of a local Denver news station. And one of the anchors may have cracked the case by speculating, “I wonder if he stopped out there.”
When did Conan visit the park? Why did he inscribe an autographed photo simply to “Park Rangers? And why was said photo framed and hung in the park office for years to the confusion of everyone who works there?
Since Conan has a beard in the publicity still, that would put it in the late 2000s or early 2010s. He grew a beard out during the 2007 writers’ strike, and later in his post-Tonight Show malaise. O’Brien did visit Denver in the spring of 2010, during his “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour,” but he would have little reason to pop by a state park in the middle of a tour.
In 2014, Conan tweeted, “When I’m in Colorado, ladies, it’s not just Mountain Time, it’s mountin’ time.” Although it’s unclear whether or not he was actually visiting The Centennial State or just trying to be creepy. It was probably just the latter, and therefore not a clue.
We may never know the truth, unless, of course, Conan responds. But there’s also a good chance that he doesn’t remember and/or care.
