Regular readers (as well as those who suffer from occasional irregularity) have probably noticed that I travel to Colorado with some frequency. (If you wish to know the exact frequency, ask Kenneth.) This is mostly due to the fact that I lived there for 22 years and still didn’t see everything I wanted to see. This includes a complete failure to visit the southwest and northwest corners of the state. The primary purpose of my September 2020 Colorado trip was to visit Mesa Verde National Park and the city of Telluride – two very different environments, both located in southwestern Colorado. But I decided to take a full two weeks, starting much farther east, at Paint Mines Interpretive Park.

The Paint Mines seem to be one of Colorado’s best-kept secrets. I never even heard of the place until years after I had moved out of Colorado. I have friends who have lived in Colorado their whole lives who had never heard of the Paint Mines. This may be in part due to its location out in the middle of nowhere. Normally, if you’re in Denver or Colorado Springs and you want to enjoy some natural beauty, you point your vehicle towards the mountains and just go. But to get to the Paint Mines, you have to put the mountains in the rearview mirror and head out onto the western end of the Great Plains. Like the Monument Rocks in Kansas, the Paint Mines are a most unexpected group of rock formations in the midst of a vast expanse of smoothly rolling grassland. I took a massive number of pictures here…

Phew! After sifting through all of those photos, I think I’m done for the day. Tune in again next week to see Red Rock Canyon, the Garden of the Gods, and Mesa Verde National Park!