Paint Mines Interpretive Park – Colorado

Paint Mines Interpretive Park affirms the phrase “colorful Colorado”.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park is located about 40 miles Northeast of Colorado Springs, Colorado and covers an area of about 750 acres. The name of the park comes from the Native Americans mining the colored clay to use for making pottery.

The Paint Mines is a small canyon that was carved into the plains over many years of wind and erosion. The effects of nature’s destructive forces revealed the beautiful layers of orange, yellow, pink and purple colored stone that is almost impossible to imagine are beneath the almost colorless grass covered plains.

The park’s main attractions are the geological formations of hoodoos, vibrant colored clay and sandstone-capped spires but it also contains grassland and a cave that also can be fun to explore.

Gully Trail

The park consists of four miles of trails that are basically flat in elevation. The main trail is the Gully Trail that starts at the main parking area and winds through a maze of hoodoos and spires. The trail is basically a worn pathway that is not officially marked. In some places the trail is a little confusing where to go but I think part of the fun of visiting places like this is to explore the site and see what I discover.

The two features that makes visiting Paint Mines Interpretive Park fascinating are observing the strange geological formations and seeing the strange layers of colorful rocks.

Geological formations

Hoodoos

Spending most of my life on the Gulf Coast, I was unfamiliar with hoodoos until traveling to the southwest United States. So if you are like me, the definition of a hoodoo is a thin spire of soft rock formed by erosion topped by a harder and larger (less eroded) rock.

Small Cave

The Paint Mines is not known for having a cave and it can easily be missed if you don’t pay attention. From a distance the cave looks like a dark spot in the formation but as you get closer the cave become apparent. The cave is not why people come to visit Paint Mines but it will only take a few minutes to check out and you might find it interesting.

Layers of colorful rocks

Bright White Rocks

The Gully Trail start by passing through an area of bright white rock formations which are interesting looking and transitions into more color as the trail gets closer to the canyon portion of the park.

Unexpected colored Rocks

The main attraction of the park is to marvel at the unexpected colorful layers of rock sediment in the canyon walls and in the other rock formations. The vibrant colors of orange, yellow, pink and purple of the rocks are even more striking with the typical bright blue sky of the Great Plains.

As you hike along the Gully Trail, make sure to look back and around because the view will look completely unique from different angles.

Overlook Point

Another option for seeing Paint Mines Interpretive Park is to view it from above. Paint Mines Overlook Point will give you a complete overview of the park but it does not come close to the experience of walking through the rock formations. There is a trail from overlook point into the canyon. The trail is shorter than Gully Trail but it is also steeper. A few photos from overlook point are shown below.

The Dust on My Shoes

Most people think Colorado’s most beautiful sites are in the mountains but Paint Mines Interpretive Park is a beautiful canyon in the Great Plains of Eastern Colorado. Driving towards the Paint Mines across the mostly flat grasslands there is no indication that there is anything colorful nearby. Even the first part of the trail is primarily white rock but then the rainbow of colors appear and it is almost like entering a totally different world.

Exploring through the maze of hoodoos and spires was fun although some places the path led to a dead-end but seeing the formations from another direction was almost like seeing a completely new formation.

Timing is everything! The canyon can be hot so go early in the morning or late in the afternoon because there isn’t much shade.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park is one of those places that I found hard to leave because I knew that it might be the only time that I would be able to visit. Hopefully I will be able to visit again!

PS: Paint Mines Interpretive Park is free and there are no crowds!

Colorado truly is a nature lover’s paradise but not all of Colorado’s best nature experiences are in the mountains. Spend some time away from the mountains and see what else Colorado has to offer.