Visiting Paint Mines Interpretive Park, Colorado

A few days before leaving Pueblo, CO, we heard from one of our friends who suggested that we visit Paint Mines Interpretive Park before we left.

All the recommendations she’s ever given us have been solid (thanks Valerie!), so when Shae and I both finally had a free afternoon, we hopped in the car and headed to the park.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park is near the town of Calhan which is about 90 minutes north of Pueblo and about 45 minutes northeast of Colorado Springs. Fun fact – Calhan is the highest non-mountain town in the US. It felt a little weird when we arrived because the Rocky Mountains weren’t in sight and it felt more like we were in Kansas. That’s not too surprising though seeing as Calhan is only ~75 miles from the Kansas border.

We were a little nervous as we drove along the dirt road approaching the park because we saw a long line of cars. From a distance we assumed that it was a line to get into the park but we were thankfully mistaken. It was instead just a line of cars parked by the roadside which acted as overflow parking.

The parking lot had space for probably a couple of dozen cars and had a basic restroom at the far end.

As you walk from the parking lot towards the trail, there are a couple of information boards about Paint Mines Interpretive Park. One of them displays a map…

…while the other lists the park’s rules and provides the following information about the park:

The Paint Mines, dominated by clays deposited more than 55 million years ago, and the surrounding acreage have yielded evidence of human life dating as far back as 9,000 years. American Indian tribes used this land as a favorite hunting ground where badland breaks and gullies may have served as hunting overlooks and entrapment locations.

The colorful clays were used by American Indians for making pottery and ceremonial paint, and in the early 1900s, the clay was mined to make bricks. During the 1880s, settlers began to homestead this land. Grazing and agricultural use by long-time residents, the Freeman family and others, played an important role in the history of the Paint Mines.

To get down to the Paint Mines, you take a winding trail that initially gives no indication as to what’s to come.

As you head further down the trail though, you’ll soon see the mines in the distance.

The sign with the park rules stated that you have to remain on the designated trails and there’s another sign reminding you that you’re not supposed to climb on the rock formations.

That warning was sadly not heeded by a family ahead of us. The mom let one of her kids climb all over the rocks and even told him to get up on one for a photo. Shortly afterwards, he said “Oops, my hand slipped and I just broke the rock.”

In this initial section there was a standalone hoodoo which looked like some kind of specially carved cartoon character. I’ve no idea if this was simply natural erosion which just happens to resemble a face or if someone actually carved this rock formation at some point. Either way, it was very cool!

Another rock formation looked like a foot that was sinking into the ground. I’m sure you could spend all day at the park and come up with things that the hoodoos and formations resemble.

There were a few additional information boards down in this section providing information about plants, wildlife and geology of the area.

You’ll see people walking above the Paint Mines, but don’t try climbing up over the rocks to get up there. There’s a separate parking area for that overlook, so you can walk/drive up there afterwards.

Most of the first rock formations that you see are white and gold, but as you explore the park further you’ll see some other colors, with pink/purple/magenta being fairly common.

I took a video panorama of the park to give you a better idea of what the general layout of the park looks like.

Keep an eye out for wildlife while you’re there. We didn’t see any snakes, but we did see a baby bunny wandering around.

After looking around this area, we took a trail to the other side of the park to explore that section which was equally colorful, if not more so.

One of the great features of Paint Mines Interpretive Park is that it’s completely free to visit. With rock formations all over the place and lots of little side trails, it also wasn’t hard to socially distance seeing as we visited in May 2020 when COVID-19 was of concern.

Beyond that section of the park there was a ~2.5 mile trail that wound through the countryside. It was therefore a shame that the park isn’t pet-friendly as our dog Truffles would’ve loved walking here. It’s understandable why dogs aren’t allowed though as they’d no doubt hasten the erosion of the park, although dogs might be allowed on this particular trail seeing as it doesn’t go down into the main park area.

Once we got back to the parking lot, we drove a couple of hundred yards further up the road to the parking lot for Paint Mines Overlook.

This overlook takes you along a path which is where we’d seen people walking earlier while we were down in the park.

It’s also a great spot to stop for a picnic with a view.

You can continue driving up the road and around the corner to reach the East Overlook. If you walk along the ~2.5 mile trail behind the park which we’d done earlier though, you’ll have gone past that overlook and so there won’t be any need to drive around there.

Final Thoughts

We were really glad that our friend recommended Paint Mines Interpretive Park to us because it’s such a unique park. The hoodoos and other rock formations are interesting, while the colored clays make it an even more fascinating place to visit. Add to that the fact that it’s free and you’ve got the makings of a fun day trip for all the family.

Address

Paint Mines Interpretive Park, 29950 Paint Mine Rd, Calhan, CO 80808