Paint Mines, CO
note: yes, we climbed on some of the formations. please, do not leave any comments regarding this.
Paint Mines, Calhan, CO
May 20, 202
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Paint Mines consists of 750 acres and has many rock formations that vary in colors of the sunset. The mines are named after their colorful clay that Indians used, and oxidized iron compounds form the colors.
May 20th is my birthday, and every year I plan a long weekend adventure somewhere in the US. This year I had planned to spend a week between Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP, which was canceled due to COVID-19. Living in Denver, we had to find something close to home that we could make a day trip out of it and find something that was not covered with snow still. Paint Mines Interpretive Park has found that human life went back almost 9,000 years ago. This park prohibits you from climbing on the formations, but we failed to follow the rules.
Above, you can see the trailhead along with the full map of the paint mines. We only covered the left portion of the map.
Once you reach the mines from the trail, you start to see white sandstone formations, minimal color is seen at this point. The wildflowers were also beginning to bloom, and there were many bees in the area.
The further you explore down the trails, you can find tunnels and caves deep in the formations. You also start to notice the bands of reds and yellows in the rocks.
One of the remarkable caves we found that has a lookout to the vibrant color of irons.
Above, you can see formations from hoodoos to spires that are easily 50 feet tall.
The colors shown are exactly what you will see when you visit.
A lot of foliage and a lot of color.
As we were heading out, I slipped on loose rocks and fell. I had a few minor scratches and a lot of dirt on my butt, so be careful while walking around. The funny thing was, we went to the gas station on the way home to go to the bathroom, and I had a HUGE hole in my pants on my butt, so long, my favorite Nike running pants.
Overall, the trip was a perfect day trip, and it cost us nothing but gas and lunch. It was very empty, so it was an ideal time to take pictures due to the pandemic. If you’re going to take pictures, the best time would be mid-day when the sun is directly over the mines. I recommend this for any road trip stop as well.
Thank you for checking out my post on Paint Mines Interpretative Park. I hope you found something of interest or useful. Please use the comment section for more ideas, but please don’t be rude. As always, travel on and do not get caught.