Entry No. 52 — the Colorado Springs file — filed under: hoodoos
Paint Mines Interpretive Park (Hoodoos)
Most people picture hoodoos in Utah, not 45 minutes east of Colorado Springs on the high plains. But out past Calhan, hidden in a fold of otherwise ordinary grassland, sit Colorado's only badlands-style spires: clay-and-sandstone towers banded in yellow, lavender, rust, and gray, carved by 9,000 years of water and wind. Indigenous people quarried pigment here for millennia. You'd drive right past it on US-24 and never know. The interpretive loop stays nearly flat across open prairie, then drops you into a maze of striped gullies and otherworldly formations that look airlifted from another state entirely. Honest catch: no shade, no water, and zero cell-signal drama to distract you.
The move: Make the drive itself the date: load up water and snacks, point the car east into the empty plains, and treat the slow reveal as the whole point. Walk the loop together, let the prairie turn into striped alien towers around a bend, and split off to find the weirdest little hoodoo nobody else photographs. Go on a cloudy day or near sunset when the colors actually pop, then race the light back toward town for dinner.
📍 Before you go A roughly 3.4-mile interpretive loop, rated easy, with only about 331 ft of elevation gain across 750 acres of prairie and hoodoo gullies. From Colorado Springs, take US-24 east through Calhan, south on Yoder Rd/Calhan Hwy, then east on Paint Mines Rd (29950 Paint Mines Rd) to one of the gravel lots; the access road is maintained county dirt. Free, no permit, open dawn to dusk. Spring and fall are ideal, and overcast days make the colors glow; summer is harsh because there's essentially no shade and no water on-site, so bring your own and sun protection. The clay surface turns to slick mud after rain or snowmelt, so skip wet days, and stay out of gullies during storms (flash-flood and lightning risk on the exposed plains). Climbing on or entering the formations is prohibited to protect the fragile rock, and dogs, bikes, and drones aren't allowed.
- 📍 Calhan (45 min east of Colorado Springs)
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Paint Mines trailhead, 29950 Paint Mines Rd, Calhan, CO 80808. From Colorado Springs take US-24 east through Calhan, turn south on Yoder Rd/Calhan Hwy, then east on Paint Mines Rd to the parking areas. The last stretch is a maintained county dirt road.
Hours: Day-use, free. Best season: Spring and fall (overcast days best for color). Confirm trail & road conditions before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
last checked: 2026-06-10