At 14,260ft, the ride to Mount Evans is a popular one from Denver. From Arvada it took us 50 minutes to drive to our starting point at the Echo Lake Lodge. We choose to start at the lodge and bike up the 14 miles to the Mount Evans summit via Mount Road. We climbed ~3,700ft on this 28 mile route. If you’d like a longer ride, you can park at Bergen Park and ride on Squaw Pass Road up to the lodge. Or, you can park right on 1-70 and ride up 103 to the lodge. Lots of options!
The road is closed to vehicles after Labor Day (and before Memorial Day) and we choose mid-September when the weather is still warm. I honestly cannot imagine riding with cars, especially on the way down when we constantly dodged large bumps. Another factor to consider is the weather. Bring layers! It was a bright, sunny day in Denver when we left our place. It was 50 degrees when we parked at the lodge at 9:30am and 37 degrees at the summit at 12:00pm. We also had a storm roll in which limited our time at the summit.
There is no warmup on this ride – the 6-7% gradient starts right away and never goes away (except for a 2 quick downhills later on in the ride). Overall, the gradient ranges from 4-10% with 6-7% being the most common.
Good to Know
Distance: 28 miles out and back
Elevation Gain: ~3,700ft
Terrain: Rough paved road – the road getting narrower and rougher after Summit Lake. You don’t feel the cracks and bumps on the way up but they are constant and unnerving on the way down. The rough road definitely slowed us down on the way down.
Parking: Wide shoulder along the road by Echo Lake Lodge next to Echo Lake Park
Facilities: Available at Echo Lake Lodge + Gift Shop
Fun Facts: Be on the lookout for Mountain Goats in the Summit Lake area. This is a good spot to take a break and snap photos of the wildlife around you!
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