North America's Highest Paved Road

The highest paved road in North America is right here in Colorado!  With a final elevation of 14,130', the Mt. Evans Scenic Byway winds its way to the top of Mt. Evans.  Starting just outside of Idaho Springs, the route is 28 miles long, and gains over 7000'.





View Mt. Evans Scenic Byway in a larger map

Lakes
Along the way you'll pass two lakes, Echo Lake and Summit Lake. 

• Echo Lake is before the toll station, so you'll find lots of people here.  There are picnic tables, grills, campgrounds, etc.  Echo Lake is at 10,600'.
• Summit Lake is after the toll station, and is right off of the byway.  There is a parking lot and restrooms.  Summit Lake is at 12,830'.

Wildlife 
According to Wikipedia, there is a lot of cool wildlife to see on Mt. Evans, including:

• Mountain Lions
• Black Bears
• Bighorn Sheep
• Mountain Goats
• Yellow-Bellied Marmots
• Pikas
• Elk
• Mule Deer
• White-Tailed Ptarmigans, and a few other birds

I only saw some big horn sheep ewes on my trip in June, so I'll need to visit again. :)




At The Top
Once you finally reach the top, you'll see some people hiking around.  It was in the upper-30s when I was there in June, and was so windy that we opted to get back in the car pretty quickly, rather than walk around.  It is typically very windy up there, and rarely goes above 40°F in the summer (I asked a ranger!).  A good rule of thumb seems to be 40° below the current temperature in Idaho Springs. 

There is a nice overlook area, complete with viewfinders and restrooms.  The view is amazing, and you can see Denver in the distance.



The University of Denver has an observatory at the top, and you can view some regional weather information on their website (here). The observatory is accessible by DU students taking certain astronomy or physics courses, but is not open to the public.

A Few Notes
Aside from bringing a coat so you can explore without being too cold, here are some tips:

• Safety:  There are no guard rails on most of the byway.  It's a winding road, with lots of big drop offs.  The road is wide enough for two cars to drive past each other, but barely.
  
• Engine Braking: On the way down you'll want to do some engine braking, so your brakes don't overheat.  There are a few places to pull over if your car needs a rest.
• Cost: The byway costs $9 per car, and is good for 3 consecutive days.
• Altitude Sickness:  Watch out for altitude sickness!  Even living at over 5000', I still felt a bit dizzy up there!
• Weather:  As I said before, it's windy and cold.  It frequently snows in the summer, and temperatures drop about 5°F for every 1000' of elevation you gain. 

Further Information

• MountEvans.com has some useful information, including road closing info
• Mt. Evans on the America's Byways site
• My photo album on Flickr