| Date |
Distance |
Time |
Elevation Gain |
Average Moving Time |
Year to Date Miles |
| 5/15/2024 |
4.2 miles |
1 hour 47 minutes |
237' |
2.4 mph |
312.1 miles |
Parking:
- 29950 Paint Mines Road, Calhan, CO
Map:Directions:- Various trails through the park.
After breakfast with Gail, I drove to Denver, to pick up Tara. Our first stop of the trip was Paint Mines Interpretive Park. I had never heard of this park before but came across it while researching parks in the Colorado Springs area. I saw a picture of the colorful hoodoos, and knew I had to go. I didn't know what to expect though. The park isn't large, and I wondered how interesting it would actually be. We drove there on a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere, wondering if we were in the right place.
The park turned out to be great! The Paint Mines have colorful clays that were collected by native Americans to make paint. The brightly colored bands are caused by oxidized iron compounds in the different layers of clay. When the outcrops erode, a hard capstone allows columns of clay to be preserved beneath them, creating hoodoos. The hoodoos reminded me of marshmallows or meringues or mushrooms from a children's book. You could see the hoodoos from above, as well as hike next to them in some areas. I wanted to hike all the trails in the park, but when it started thundering, we found the fastest trail back to the parking lot. On our drive out to Manitou Springs, we got caught in a hailstorm then sleet. I started wondering if camping was such a good idea. Luckily the first few nights we'd be in a hotel.
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| The trails were well sign posted |
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| Afternoon thunderstorm coming in.... |
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| Rock texture |
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| Wind farm |
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