Paint Mines Interpretive Loop

To ensure future generations can enjoy this fragile environment, hiking is strictly restricted to designated trails with no dogs or bikes allowed. Climbing on spires and formations is not allowed.

Seemingly out of place in the eastern prairies, spires and hoodoos brilliantly colored by layers of oxidized clays tell converging stories of geologic and human history.  As its name implies, the park offers an interpretive experience across both trail loops that weave in and out of the formations.

Evidence of humans using this site dates back 9,000 years. For at least part of that history, the colorful clays found here were an integral part of Native American culture as paints and other dyes.

Overview from El Paso County Parks