From Deseret News archives:
The high road: Driving to the top of Colorado's Mount Evans takes your breath away
The Mount Evans Scenic Byway (Colorado Highways 103/5) is the highest paved passenger route in North America — including Alaska, Hawaii and California. It ends at 14,130 feet above sea level, or 20 feet higher than the much more famous and popular Pikes Peak Highway — still a gravel road in its upper reaches.
The Mount Evans road is suitable for passenger cars and climbs more than 7,000 feet in 28 miles. It offers easy access to Mount Evans, 14,264 feet above sea level and Colorado's 14th highest peak, about 30 air miles southwest of Denver.
The road ends at a parking lot, and from there it's a quarter-mile hike that climbs 134 feet to the rocky summit.
"At the summit you'll enjoy the big picture — the entire Front Range sprawls at your feet — but don't overlook the details," states the official Web site of Colorado's scenic and historic byways.
"This highest of Rocky Mountain Highs brings you to the rarefied world above timberline, a singular amalgam of hardy wildflowers, lichens and grasses, furry mammals, like pikas and marmots, rock-jumping mountain goats and alpine lakes. This is perhaps the best place in Colorado to catch a glimpse of the stately bighorn sheep," the byways site says.
Heather Lopez of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau of Clear Creek County said that many of the people who visit Mount Evans each year are Europeans.
"It's beautiful up there," she said.
Even if you travel just to the paved parking lot, you'll be treated to endless vistas of Colorado's high country — complete with markers to show you what you're seeing.
The state's highest restrooms are also here, as well as the ruins of the old Crest House gift shop/restaurant and the off-limits observatory. Its 11,000-pound telescope is the world's highest. It was built by the University of Denver in 1972 and has a 24-inch mirror.
The Crest House was opened in 1941 after two years of construction. It was gutted in 1979 by a propane fire and was not rebuilt.
If you do gulp in the thin air and reach the actual summit, you'll have a complete panorama, since the northern view won't be blocked by the peak. Summit Lake and many other northern sights will be visible. Even downtown Denver can be spotted on clear days.
