Mt. Evans

Summit Lake

[All: 1 Avg.: 5]

Distance

6 Miles

Highest Elevation

14,264ft.

Lowest Elevation

12,850ft.

Ascent

2,170 ft.

Difficulty

Class 2

Overview

Mt. Evans is home to Mt. Evans Road, one of the highest roads in America. Park at Summit Lake to start this lightly trafficked route to the top, which will almost certainly bring you to encounters of mountain goats. Catch panoramic views of Summit Lake and the neighboring Mt. Bierstadt along the way.

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Mt. Evans Walkthrough

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360°VR Video Tour

How to Run Mt. Evans

Click the “i” on the bottom right of the 360 VR Photo box for captions that follow these directions.

From Summit Lake, follow a wide gravel path counterclockwise around Summit Lake’s shoreline, out of the parking area [1]. Continue to follow the trail up a short rocky hillside as you gain the ridge and leave the gravel path for packed dirt single track [3]. You’ll soon pass by some steep couloirs visible throiugh notches in the ridgeline, with Chicago lakes below. Continue to follow the ridgeline, keeping an eye out for cairns above you [9,10]. The high point of the ridge is Mt. Spalding, 1.2 miles in at 13,830ft [14].

After you descend Mt. Spalding, the trail becomes thinner, but occasional cairns mark the way. You’ll make your way across a plateau, aiming for the area where Evan’s ridge meets the plateau. From the shallow notch [19, 20] where the plateau meets the ridge, the trail becomes harder to follow as it crosses through rocks. Watch for cairns. You’ll stay beneath the ridge [23-29], not topping out until you ultimately hit Evan’s summit [30].

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