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Blue Sky Summit Lake Trailhead

  
Posted By: JasonCrane
Info: I paid $12 for the Timed Entry Permit to park at Summit Lake Park TH. Mt. Evans Road is dry & free/clear of any snow. The upper road, past Summit Lake, is gated/closed. Summit Lake Park has a couple of restrooms & parking was somewhat limited.
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Posted By: Chicago Transplant
Info: Closed for the season as of October 3, 2022.
 
Posted By: iceman1212
Info: FYI - It looks like reservations are required for pull-offs that are fairly close to the Summit Lake parking lot. Had parked in one of these pulloffs yesterday and received a warning for not showing parking reservation. Probably need to drive farther out for free pull-off parking.
 
Posted By: yaktoleft13
Info: Can confirm prior report that the parking lot on the right .25 miles before summit lake is fee free. It’s not within the boundaries of summit lake park. Also the pulloffs further up the road, specifically the ones used for tour d’abyss, don’t seem to be fee areas either. In fact, the fee areas seem rather limited: Goliath peak parking area, summit lake parking area, Evans summit parking area.
 
Posted By: someguy9
Info: Almost full at 530, had to save spots for our friends. When we got back around 12 the lot was full and people were parking on the road. Not too Crowded today along the west ridge compared to bierstadt.
 
Posted By: espressoself
Info: Didn’t end up getting a valid reservation, but called the Forest Service and confirmed that I only needed one for Summit Lake, Goliath Park, and the Summit parking lot. I noticed a parking lot that sits about .25 miles to the northeast of Summit Lake (this does not show up on maps, but you can see on satellite imagery). I asked the nice lady that I spoke with about this lot, and she said no pass was necessary here.

We opted for the unmarked lot and were the first car there at ~5:30 AM. The Summit Lake lot was nearly full at the same time, and people had begun parking on the side of the road. For whatever reason, few people seemed to park in our lot throughout the day, and opted instead to park along the road or cram into the Summit Lake lot. When we returned, there were only 5 other cars there, and no parking ticket! Highly recommend this!
 
Posted By: astromuni
Info: Confirmed you can arrive much earlier than when the booth opens (at 8am). But make sure you still have a parking reservation: I saw a ranger checking all the windshields. I arrived around 6:15 am (a July Sunday) and there was still a bunch of spots in the Summit Lake lot (it was maybe half full). It looks like it’s totally fine for cars to park along the road (which is roughly flat in the area), and it didn’t get much more crowded by mid-morning. The summit lot was a lot less crowded lol. Great bathrooms at both the trailhead and summit, which is obviously somewhat unique for a 14er
 
Posted By: -wren-
Info: Seems like timed entry reservations are only available for late in the day, starting at 8 am. If I go up early will the gate be locked this year?
 
Posted By: JulieKurtz18
Info: My husband drove up today and Mt. Evans Road is closed for the rest of 2020 due to COVID. Don’t go.
 
Posted By: s_silverman
Info: Road to Summit Lake closed at Echo parking lot.
 
Posted By: dwoodward13
Info: Road will remained closed from Echo Lake to motorized vehicles for the remainder of 2020.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD746971
 
Posted By: JeffR
Info: Bikers rejoice! The road is 99% passable to the end without touching snow. There were only 4-5 sections after mile 10 where I had to hike-a-bike, and none were >50’.
 
Posted By: JeffR
Info: Hoofed it up the road this morning (yay, sprained-ankle rehab). Completely clear for the first 5+ miles, then snowpacked for ~1 mile, then random ice and snow until Summit Lake. A front-end-loader crew was in the midst of getting it on right where the road crosses to the east side of the ridge. Between that and Mother Nature, I’d wager that the road will be clear to SL within a week or so. Talked to the loader driver, their only plans for at least the next few weeks are to clear the road to SL. For the remainder, I imagine they’ll wait for the sun to do most of their work (due to the late opening), then they’ll come back during the last 2 weeks of June to finish the job.
 
Posted By: planet54
Info: Read and decide for yourself https://www.skyhinews.com/news/mount-evans-highway-opening-delayed/
 
Posted By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: The Mt. Evans road is now CLOSED at Echo Lake for the winter.
 
Posted By: 123tqb
Info: When my climbing partner and I returned to the parking lot at Summit Lake, a park ranger suggested that hikers should avoid the Northeast Face route to let it revegetate. Instead the West Ridge routes should be taken.
 
Posted By: RyGuy
Info: From the Clear Creek County Sheriff: "Highway 5, the road up Mount Evans from Highway 103, is now CLOSED due to adverse conditions. This will likely be for the season."
 
Posted By: aim54pheonix
Info: Closed at Echo Lake
 
Posted By: sky_high
Info: Road is in summer conditions all the way up. As usual, potholes aplenty but nothing else of note. Summit Lake was already mostly full at sunrise. Many goats in the area, especially around the lake early in the day so watch your speed or you might end up with a new hood ornament.
 
Posted By: HannahBearCO
Info: Summit Lake parking area is open. If you have any of the interagency passes, you do NOT have to pay the $5 to park there. If you don’t have the pass, then you must pay the $5 parking fee or you will receive a $35 ticket from the city of Denver.

Plenty of snow around, but most has melted from the parking area itself. There are patches of ice near the trail that I saw a few people slip and fall on, so spikes are recommended in the immediate vicinity of Summit Lake and the trail.
 
Posted By: Eagle Eye
Info: The Mt Evans road is now plowed to the summit. Biked up last night (5/25). The Echo Lake gate was closed. The Summit Lake gate ~ 9 mile marker was open.
 
Posted By: Eagle Eye
Info: The Mt Evans Highway is plowed to about 7 miles from the gate at Echo Lake/Highway 103. This is at 12,574 feet, about 2 miles from Summit Lake & about 7 miles from the summit parking lot.
 
Posted By: Eagle Eye
Info: See picture. A sign on the closed gate at the start of the road says bikes and hikers OK.
The road might be plowed to some point now...in preparation for opening? It appears plowed behind the gate but I did not go any further.
The sign was not there April 13th & the road was not plowed, in fact it was deep in snow & didn‘t have any vehicle tracks on it. Anyone hiked or biked up recently???
 
Posted By: JQDivide
Info: Closed for the season, 2015-2016 winter.
 
Posted By: jmjr2k
Info: Made the drive along Hwy 103 South to Hwy 5 in the morning, and arrived at the park entrance/ranger station at 6:40 a.m., but no one was home. So, we proceeded and went on up to the Summit Lake parking area. There are two, separate, areas to park that provide access to the trailhead which will lead you to Mt. Spalding, the West Ridge, and Mt. Evans. We got the last spot in the closer lot to the trailhead. Folks were starting to park along the road as overflow on this Labor Day weekend. When we came back after the climb, we found a notice on our front windshield that said we needed to pay the park entrance fee. On the way back down, we stopped by the park entrance/ranger station and paid the $10 fee, and they marked us as paid on the ticket notice. The road was in great shape, and I talked to CDoT who said they would leave the road open up to the Mt. Evans summit top until the first significant snow closes it since there was extended reconstruction of the road in the Spring. We had a cold start with temps at 38 degrees F. and a nasty wind chill with gusts up to 30 mph making it feel like the teens.
 

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