Mt. Evans Wilderness

A friend of mine had told me about this place and said we should give it a visit when in Colorado. We tried to do that the last time we were there, but it had already closed for the season. This trip, we were a week or so earlier, so we decided to try again. Fortunately, most of the area was still open. Only the very top was closed.Timed entry passes are required here, just like in many of the National Parks. I'm glad one of our group thought to get it. After a very nice drive up from Idaho Springs, we showed our permit and headed up. Part of the fun of this trip is that it's the highest paved road in North America (14,264 ft). We made it all the way up to one of the alpine lakes, and it was cold. I'm glad we were prepared for the cold and wind. We didn't see any wildlife at the lake, but we did see some on the way up. The area is full of deer, big horn sheep, and mountain goats, and we got to see 2 of the 3.Will I return? Definitely. However, if you want to see it all, you better go in the summer.

Beautiful. Loved this hike. Come early. parking lot may fill up. We arrive at 6 am on monday 6/27/2021. summit lake lot was around half full. There are bathrooms available at the lot for use. Bring $5 cash to pay to park when you arrive. there is an envelope to fill out over near the bathroom for parking. Take the trail that doesn't go down close to the lake and then you will hang a left. There is some signage before you really start to incline. the elevation gain from the parking lot to mount spaulding was fairly intense. There are a lot of rocks. Would make sure you have good boots for this hike. Once you get up to mount spaulding you will start to DESCEND. the trail up to mount spaulding is relatively well laid out. however after you get down from mount spaulding. Well there is a rock area that is not marked at all. Take a peek at 14ers.com so you can see some pics of where you should go. once you get over the hump and down. Stay around 25 feet down below the ridge and look for the CAIRNS. Rock piles. These will help guide you to where you should be going. Thankfully all trails did pull up for me when we were in the spot that is absolutely not marked. just be prepared for that stretch. From spaulding on up to the summit was a lot of climbing around on rocks. It was fun but be prepared for that. There were not many folks on the actual trail. but once you hit the summit parking lot at the top there will be a fair amount of people up at the summit as a lot of people drive up there. They do have bathrooms at the top, that is actually kind of a nice treat. I really enjoyed this 14er. I would definitely be up for doing this one again.

This was tougher than I thought it would be. You read all the information on what happens when you climb higher. Well to provide an example, at the bottom it was 82 degrees. We got to the top and temperature dropped down to 38 degrees. I didn't have the correct clothes on for being that high up on Mt. Evans.The other part is when I got out of the vehicle, wow the air took my breath away and took me a while to gain it back. I got lightheaded immediately while exiting the vehicle. Besides that the views were absolutely amazing. Some of the best views I've ever seen. It reminded me of Washington State and South Dakota. Just incredible views.The other part was driving to the top, guardrails are minor and gets more scary as you drive further up. It was a great time.

Had a great and challenging hike up Mount Evans. Don't be fooled by the not as challenging hike up to the summit of Mount Spalding a neighboring 13er. Once when you make your summit up to Mount Evans it's very difficult. The path is just a rocky side of the mountain that you find your own path up. It's steep, rocky, and feels like a really long way up to the top. Once when you make it up rocky wall, you will summit Mount Evans up a small ascent with all of the people who drove up the pass. It's crowded but worth it and the hike is beautiful. We walked down the road since the weather was starting to storm and we didn't want to be caught in a storm on the way down.

Amazing 14er!! This is my second time attempting this hike and I love every inch of it. The challenge is crazy, but doable. I came on Sunday morning and the weather was perfect! Not super busy either, started at 6:45am. This is a must!!!!

We arrived September 1st to Colorado for the first time. We read the Mount Evans closed some of the roads on Labor Day which will be the very next day. So as soon as we got a rental car we headed to Mount Evans. We did stop at Echo Lake and take some pics and look around before we headed to the mountain was very pretty ... nice place to walk . Arrived at Mount Evans decided to buy a national park pass so it looks like we're going to try to visit several national parks in the next 12 months . We did a bit of reading about the Mount Evans before coming ... read that the driving up the mountain would kind of scary with no guard rails and being at such an elevation. Not our first time doing big mountains my husband did the driving as I did the pictures.This is the first time I had any trouble with elevation sickness though it really kicked my ass. I couldn't breathe well I had a headache I couldn't think I just did not feel well but the scenery was so beautiful it was still worth doing and very enjoyable. We saw mountain goats and marmots. There are some lakes and just one beautiful scene after the other love love this beautiful scenery.I do have asthma and have recently been diagnosed with a rapid heartbeat. I don't know if that's why I had trouble with elevation. Luckily I had a Nebulizer breathing machine in the car that really helped me not die. But it really had to manage our expectations for walking. I really wasn't able to walk very much up there. Probably wasn't the best place to head straight from the airport.

SO MAGICAL. Ok, so imagine yourself driving on a road then all of the sudden you day "I wonder where that road goes?". That's exactly what Berry and I did. Somehow we were driving up Mt. Evans and it was truly an awesome site. The snow was falling gently onto the ground and the trees lightly dusted with frost. This is a place I will never forget. The mountain at its peak is 14K feet and you definitely feel the altitude while driving. Oh and the drive itself was breathtaking. Around every scary, icy turn there was a majestic view for the taking. I never thought I would have used the word majestic LOL. I was expecting to see animals singing and talking due to the fact it was so magical. Ok, I need to focus. I strongly encourage you to visit this place as soon as possible, you will not regret it. *DISCLIMER: The actual driving on the mountain is challenging, use extreme caution.

The best!! Top of the world and so beautiful. No view compares. Timed entry and reservations needed to go all the way to the top. Echo Lake and Summit Lake are breathtaking. We saw mountain goats and mountain sheep. This trip was an awesome experiences. Near the top, there a trees bent by the wind and hundreds of years-old. There are bathrooms along the way. Parking is crowded. We will be back again and again.

According to AllTrails, the Mount Evans and Mount Spalding Loop Trail is "a 4 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Idaho Springs, Colorado that features a lake and is rated as difficult."DIFFICULT INDEED.I recently visited Denver for the first time and had a blast. Denver's surrounding nature (aka the Rocky Mountain Range) is absolutely beautiful, especially on a clear October weekend. I landed on a Friday night at 9pm, and then woke up 6 hours later so we could drive 2 hours to Summit Lake on Mount Evans to begin the hike: my first ever 14er (14,000 ft. elevation hike).The roads to Summit Lake twist and turn, and there aren't guardrails around a lot of the turns, so I recommend driving very carefully, especially if it's at 5am in the dark. There's a parking lot at Summit Lake that charges $5 (honor system) that has 2 gender neutral bathrooms. The road that leads up to the top of Mount Evans is closed after labor day to account for weather conditions, so the Summit Lake parking lot is the furthest you can go after labor day.Okay, now on to the actual hike.After arriving at the Summit Lake parking lot around 5:30am, my friend and I waited for her coworkers to arrive. It was pitch dark, 25 degrees, and the wind was already blowing violently at, I want to guess, 30mph. Fast enough to slam car doors shut and blow me slightly off my walking path. The 8 of us set out to do the trail going counter-clockwise, and 20 minutes in, 3 people decided to head back either from altitude sickness or it being just too cold. I had been worried about coming from Austin to Denver and hiking a 14er with only 9 hours to adjust to the elevation difference, but I took a non-drowsy dramamine and didn't feel any altitude sickness.The 5 of us trudged on with our backpacks and flashlights, taking frequent breaks to catch our breath since the rocky trail was decently steep and and the air was so thin at that elevation. However, our breaks had to be short because our fingers and toes felt like they started to freeze if we weren't moving and generating body heat.After 3.5 hours, we finally got to the parking lot near the top of the mountain, hiked the last 20 minute stretch among the rocky switchbacks, and reached the top.Wow... Usually, I like challenging hikes that offer a great view because I can take my time up at the top, eat lunch, and enjoy the view I worked hard for. But at the Mt. Evans peak, the wind was still furiously blowing into us, so we snapped a quick group picture and made our way down the mountain as fast as possible. Ultimately, it took about 5 hours for us to complete the 4-mile hike, and boy was I tired. I did feel incredibly accomplished for having completed a 14er though, especially since it was only 11am by the time we were done.Final Rating:This type of nature, the moutains, the water, the hills and valleys, is a guaranteed 5. However, I think the Mt. Evans and Mount Spalding loop trail is more of an achievement hike than it is a viewpoint hike. Yes, the 360 degree views of the mountain ranges are cool, but the best view was watching the sunrise paint the sky and illuminate Summit Lake at 6:30am in the morning. The rest of the hike was more about surviving the winds, accomplishing a 14er, and making it back safely.

This was one of my favorite intermediate level hikes to the very top!! Aside from it raining down below on the foothills of the mountain, we were greeted by chunks of snow and also hills that looked beautiful as the sun hit the light right. From afar, the views are also ravishing, looked like a live painting with glows from the heavens. We absolutely enjoyed the charm of mother nature that day. We had no trouble with the crowds and had the trail to ourselves for the most part. We hiked for a total of 4-6 hours and also took breaks here and there. We had come prepared and brought snacks and drinks to keep us hydrated and had deep talks on the hills of this gorgeous place. The Peak of Mt. Evans became an inspirational for us to drive up next time and proclaim Mt. Evans, as one of our proudest hikes. Solely, enjoying God's works through nature. At the view that we had, we found that there indeed is a lake where the mountain is shaped like a Halo! Unfortunately, we did not get to see any mountain goats ... Yet, however this will be a great park to revisit.Mt. Evans is one of the tallest mountains in CO, and that makes me smile, knowing we did hike to the very top back in July of 2019. Mt Evans has a scenic bypass, connected to an iconic phoenix gold mine, which is advertised on a map visiting Mt. Evans.