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We were looking for something to do during the day that was in reasonable driving distance to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. When we saw that Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in North America fit our criteria, we knew we had to check it out.
The drive to, and up the mountain, elicited many oohhs and aahhs. We barely turned on the road that leads to the road to the mountain, when we just had to stop.
The scenery at Echo Lake Park was stunning.
The calm, clear water, lined with skinny, standing at attention trees, was a sight to behold.
There were signs advertising trails, and as much as we would have loved to hike one,
we weren’t sure how far we had to go to get to Mt. Evans’ peak, or what else we might want to stop and see along the way, so after contenting ourselves with just a stroll around Echo Lake, we jumped back in the car.
I imagine you could easily spend at least half a day at Echo Lake.
While traversing our way up to the mountain, we saw a spot where we could stop to get a fantastic view of the lake from above.
The scenery in the other direction wasn’t too shabby either.
We sat in the car for a bit, just to really take the scene in, then we continued to the peak.
The road to Mt. Evans is narrow. There are no guardrails. There are hairpin turns, and before you discover their existence, it looks for a moment like your car may float off of the road to soar through the clouds.
On our way back down the mountain we stopped at two more spots.
One was a tundra. It had started to drizzle on our way down. The clouds raced like marathon runners to engulf the mountain. It was so thickly white, we could barely see the road in front of us.
We also stopped at the Mount Goliath Natural Area.
It was another very cool spot, and another place where you could probably spend a decent amount of time, if you didn’t have a concert to get to.
The drive to the peak of Mt. Evans is an amazing experience. Even if you have no desire to drive all of the way to the very top, the scenery along the way is worth a trip. They are sights that you will not forget.
