He has said that he experienced bullying due to his sexuality, and that he ran away from home for a time due to his mother's negative reaction to it. Haynes's parents were divorced his father was married seven times. He attended Navarre High School in Florida and Andale High School in Kansas, and graduated from Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz, Texas.
He grew up on a farm in Andale and has also lived in Arkansas, New Mexico, Texas and Florida. He has described his parents as 'free-spirited hippies.' Haynes has five siblings, including brothers Clinton and Joshua, and a sister, Willow. Colton Lee Haynes was born either in Wichita, Kansas, or Andale, Kansas, a town of 900.