The Colorado Paint Mines Interpretive Park is an area I have been thinking of exploring for a couple of years now. I had never heard of it until I saw photos of the park on Instagram. In May 2021 I decided to check the area out for myself and I am glad I did. All of my pictures were taken with my I-Phone and I used no filters so the colors are true to nature. I visited late morning but I have heard the rock colors are even more spectacular in the morning and evening.
Location
Located about 45 minutes NE of Colorado Springs. I drove from near Boulder and it took me about 2 hours on back roads. It took me 3 hours on the way back as I headed to Colorado Springs and took the jammed packed interstate! Bad choice!
What are the Colorado Paint Mines?
The Colorado Paint Mines Interpretive area is an open space park East of Colorado Springs. This area consists of various hoodoos, spires, rocks and colorful sandstone surrounded by prairie grasses. Named for the Native Americans who once mined the colorful rocks and used as dyes for pottery and ceremonial paints. You can not see the Paint Mines from afar as they are almost hidden in a valley or ravine type area. As a matter of fact, driving here I thought for sure my GPS had to be taking me on a wild goose chase. I drove for several miles on dirt roads up and down rolling hills, past cows and horses without barely seeing another car. Suddenly I was here!
The Trail to the Paint Mines
There is a 3.4 mile well packed dirt trail leading to the Paint Mines. Just a very short way from the parking lot trailhead the trail divides right or straight. Right will take you just a short ways to the colorful rocks. If you go straight you will wind around through the prairie and come to the rock formations last. I choose to go straight as I wanted to experience the entire area and get some steps in. The trail continued to be well packed and easy to walk on. There was a bit of elevation but not much at all.
Throughout the walk you came across different rock formations which added anticipation to seeing the Paint Mines at the end.
There are also a few interpretive signs along the way that explain geology and history of this area.
Seeing the Paint Mines from a distance was pretty cool and it was a good direction to have chosen. Plus there were very few people who choose this way. Most people just went to the Paint Mines.
The Paint Mines
I really enjoyed the hoodoos, rocks and colors of the Paint Mines. Even more fun, I enjoyed walking through them. Remember though to not climb the rocks and keep off where marked. The part that was so much fun was while following a trail, it suddenly stopped due to large rocks and you would have to turn around and find another way. All in all, it reminded me of a maze. This would be so much fun for kids. Wait, who am I kidding, I’m 55 and I had a blast!!!
Conclusion
I really loved the Colorado Paint Mines Interpretive Park and would definitely recommend it. It is about 45 minutes from Colorado Springs but in my opinion worth the drive.
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Follow more of our Colorado adventures at these links:
Jeeping
Crystal Mill, Colorado October 2020
Hikes
Royal Arch Trail, Boulder, Colorado September 2020
Flatirons Loop Trail, Boulder, Colorado September 2020
Independence Ghost Town, Colorado October 2020
The Grottos Trail, Aspen, Colorado October 2020
Royal Arch Trail, Boulder, Colorado September 2020
Flatirons Loop Trail, Boulder, Colorado September 2020
Silver Lake, Telluride, Colorado October 2020
Rifle Falls, Colorado September 2020
Odessa and Fern Lakes Aug 2020
St Mary’s Glacier Hike Aug 2017
Ghost Towns
Independence, Colorado October 2020
Road Trips
Our Rocky Mountain National Park Trip Aug 2018
My Favorite Colorado Road Trip Aug 2016
Nicely described and great images!
Thank you! I appreciate your comments!!😀
Wow it is beautiful in a rugged way!
I agree! Was glad I went!
Beautiful art of nature, Lori. How did it come by the name Paint Mines? Looks like you had a gorgeous day for your hike. Thanks for sharing. Allan
It was a great day! Names so because Native Americans mined the colored rocks to use as dyes on pottery etc.
Cool. It reminds me a bit of the badlands in the Dakotas.
That was the feel I had too. Not as expansive as the badlands but still beautiful!
Thanks for emphasizing the importance of not climbing on them. I was frustrated during my visit to see people doing that. Great photos! We didn’t take the longer trail so it was neat to see the area from that perspective.
I can’t emphasize that enough. There were people climbing on them when I was there as well. Very frustrating indeed!!
Beautiful!
It was!!
How gorgeous! I’ve never heard of the Colorado Paint Mines, but the structure and color remind me vaguely of the structures in Bryce Canyon and whatnot. What a lovely part of the state; I’ll have to revisit Colorado for this. Thanks for sharing!
It was a lot of fun! The rocks were so pretty and looked different from each direction!
some great rock formations and the colors are wonderful. glad you had a nice walk through the Paint Mines. and as an aside, I just read that Boulder was picked as the number one place to live in the U.S.!
I read that about Boulder also! We have been looking for where we want to retire and Boulder was my top choice but the husband won and we bought some land near Wilmington, NC instead! Still have a few more years till we retire but putting the wheels in motion!
that is exciting to be taking steps towards retirement. what does your husband like about Wilmington?
He likes the golf course where we bought at, the proximity to the beaches and the weather. We both like the town of Wilmington, the trails and closeness to many places we want to visit for day trips. We bought at a place called Compass Point in Leland, NC. There are lots of activities there and we liked it from the first time we saw it. I love Colorado but in reality we struggle more each year with cold winter weather in Iowa and Colorado will not get us away from that. I also like that I will be able to swim outdoor laps for more than 2-3 months a year! It’s a 4-5 year plan but we have been taking steps towards retirement for awhile now.
Wilmington sounds like the kind of place I want as well – the warmer, the better. And I’m impressed that this is a 4-5 year plan; we are about 3-4 years away, but still need to do some exploring…
Exploring the options are fun! Hard to narrow down though!
I bet, but I am looking forward to doing so!
What a unique landscape to explore, looks like a lovely and interesting hike 🙂
It was very nice! Loved all the colors and formations!
You find all the best spots! We’ll have to add this to the list for one of our next visits. Gorgeous photos, as usual.
Definitely a great place and worth seeing!
Never assume that flat means boring in the U.S. West for sure. This site makes an interesting side trip that we will definitely pursue on future road trips. Thanks for the idea.
I agree! Definitely worth a visit!!
I visited there about 5 years ago. A difficult place to capture in photos, in my opinion, but you did a great job! Loved your post.
You are right! Photos do not do it justice! Thanks for the kind words!! Lori