Paint Mines Interpretive Park

This place is unexpectedly fantastic! The 'formations' area is absolutely stunning and worth a visit.

There are additional paths around the nearby plains, mostly filled with copious sunflowers. Not so much interesting geology out there.

There is NO SHADE. Hats, sunscreen, water... I brought a spf50 umbrella and was grateful for it.

From the lookout areas, it looks cool. But that's nothing compared to going down into the mines. You are walking through a maze of rock formations and colors. The shape of these formations seems to change as your viewing angle changes. I spent a whole morning in just a portion of the park. I liked starting early when it was cool, quite and fewer people. I'm planning to go back to explore the rest on future trips.

Short 30 min drive from Colorado Springs.

There is several trails to explore within this park. I can’t remember but I think there’s a set of washrooms at the beginning of the park. Plenty of parking.

No dogs, no bicycles, no motor bikes, just walking.

A ton of wildflowers in the summer time, it’s really windy in this area. Bring sunscreen and bug spray!

The mines are beautiful, you can get close up and personal. Not too many people but very quiet and relaxing park. There is benches along the way to sit and watch the view. No water fountains, bring water!
Normal walking shoes are okay, no need for hiking shoes

They offer guided walks, make sure you go online and research the times

This place rocks! Went on the 3.8 mile loop. Trail conditions were great and there was a lot of interesting native plans and views. Something about looking at the painted rocks settled into this vast grass plain was relaxing.

The interpretive guide Chris was teaching us all kind of cool history about the area and gave us a bunch of information about local wildlife we had seen.

Was an awesome time.

What a strange and beautiful place. This is coming from someone who grew up in Florida and spent the last 10+ years of her life in Alaska, so, I have never seen landscape like this. Lots of wild flowers blooming everywhere and a very nice walk. We only did about half of it due to having a young child with us and rain coming in. I will definitely be back to explore the rest!