If you’ve never biked up Mount Evans, this is the summer to do it
The day after government agencies announced that the highway from Echo Lake to the summit of Mount Evans will remain closed to motorists this year due to coronavirus concerns, Evergreen cyclist Campbell Levy decided it was a perfect time to do the classic but arduous ascent.
Cyclists will have the road mostly to themselves this summer, although hikers also are allowed, and CDOT will be doing some maintenance work. Road work is not expected to hamper cyclists on the winding, 14-mile stretch of road that climbs more than 3,600 feet to the summit at 14,264 feet. Evans is the 14th-tallest peak in Colorado.
When Levy did the ride last week, he
a few other cyclists and a handful of “pretty hardy runners,” along with lots of wildlife. The road is mostly clear of snow, Levy said, except for three or four patches that were easy to get around.
“One of the coolest things is just the camaraderie of being up there with a bunch of other human-powered people,” Levy said. ”It’s surreal up there right now. I highly recommend it. This would be the year to do this one, because it’s just amazing. The wildlife is all over the place right now. The mountain goats and bighorn sheep, I saw everything, all with babies.”
The Mount Evans highway typically opens to vehicular traffic at the end of May, but the agencies that manage the road and its amenities — CDOT, the
U.S. Forest Service and Denver Mountain Parks — announced on June 4 that motor vehicles would be prohibited this year due to “health and safety risks and economic feasibility.”
Presley Fowler said the agencies managing the highway saw the closure as an opportunity to do road maintenance that cannot be done when motor vehicles are using the road, such as pothole filling and replacing lane delineators that will put the road in better condition for next year than it would have been without the closure. They also saw it as a unique opportunity for recreationalists.
“We all knew this summer was going to be different than any other summer,” Fowler said, “but when all the agencies involved were looking at the plan for Mount Evans and what needed to happen, it was decided that we could confidently allow the hiking and biking so long as people are following the health orders -saw distancing, wearing a mask where needed.”
If the 14-mile ride from Echo Lake to the summit is a little too daunting for some, an alternative would be to make Summit Lake your destination. Summit Lake is 9 miles from Echo Lake and is located at 12,840 feet in the shadow of the mountain’s spectacular upper cliffs.
Fowler said the presence of maintenance crews shouldn’t be an impediment to riders.
“It’s something to definitely be cautious of, but ... they will be able to get around.”
Cyclists and hikers also should be cautioned that there are no services at the Echo Lake Lodge, along the road or at the summit, so they will need to bring all the water and other things they will need for high-altitude recreation.
“That’s important,” Levy said, “just in terms of our local searchand-rescue partners, that people are self-sufficient when they go up there.”
Cyclists should apply the same rules they would on any other fourteener: be off the summit by noon to avoid afternoon thunsocial derstorms, and understand the climb is an arduous, high-altitude challenge. The steep descent is challenging, too, because of road damage.
“There are so many cracks in it, you really have to be vigilant on your way down,” Levy said.
“If you don’t pay attention, you could fall off your bike. It’s rough. It’s a fun descent, but by the time you’re down, you’re kind of happy that you’re down.”