Paint Mines Interpretive Park is run by El Paso County, near Calhan, Colorado. Its colorful sediments outwashed from the Rockies 55 million years ago. The Paint Mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. Oxidized iron compounds cause brightly colored bands in various layers of clay. When outcrops erode, a hard capstone allows columns of clay to be preserved beneath, creating fantastic spires called hoodoos. Selenite (gypsum) contributes to the color, and white quartzitic crystals dazzle the eye.
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