Summit Lake Park - Clear Creek County, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 35.913 W 105° 38.460
13S E 444965 N 4383397
Summit Lake Park is the highest park of the Denver Parks System at nearly 13,000' (3962.4 m).
Waymark Code: WMFBQA
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 09/25/2012
Views: 2
"At 12,840 feet (3,914 m), Summit Lake Park anchors the high-altitude end of the Mountain Parks system. The route to the top of Mt. Evans, one of America's highest auto roads, is (usually) accessible from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and provides a taste of Colorado's high peaks to thousands of Denver visitors annually. The 160-acre Summit Lake Park is surrounded by National Forest lands and the Mt. Evans Wilderness. Fees charged by the Forest Service to use facilities along the road help maintain services from Echo Lake to the top of Mt. Evans.
The short growing season makes life a challenge for the many slow-growing tundra wildflowers; their entire life cycles must be completed in a few short weeks. (Visitors who stay on trails will avoid adding to that difficulty.) Look for "spring" in early July at this elevation, and fall following quickly by mid-August. By September, the road to Mt. Evans summit is closed, but access to Summit Lake is maintained until major snowstorms prohibit travel. " (from (
visit link) )
"Summit Lake is a tarn which sits at 12,836 feet (3,912 m) altitude in a glacial cirque on the north face of Mount Evans and the east face of Mount Spalding. To the north, there is a col (12,855 feet/3918 m altitude) looking down into the chain of two cirques holding the Chicago Lakes at the headwaters of Chicago Creek. By one count that includes several unnamed lakes, Summit Lake is the 13th highest lake in the United States. In 1915, the USGS reported that Summit Lake was the highest lake in Colorado, at 12,740 feet. Later secondary sources occasionally report it as the highest lake in the United States.
The land was acquired by Denver in 1924 and incorporated into the Denver Mountain Parks system. It was declared a National Natural Landmark in April, 1965." (from (
visit link) )
"Summit Lake is on the north side of Mt. Evans, along the road that leads almost to the summit of Mt. Evans. This is the highest paved road in the United States (the highest paved continuous road is Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park). Mt. Evans is a great bicycle adventure if you start from Echo Lake, or especially from Idaho Springs(!). Summit Lake drains calmly out the east side and down the eastern slopes of the Evans Massif through Bear Creek. However, there is a low rocky sill on the north side of the lake about 10 feet high, and then the valley plunges down steeply after that. If those rocks developed a crack from freezing and thawing, possibly Summit Lake could radically change the direction of its outflow and empty northward into Chicago Lakes and Chicago Creek instead. The drainage pattern of Summit Lake hangs by a thread! Mighty rivers teeter on the brink of drought or flood! Well, I think this is interesting even if no one else does." (from (
visit link) )
The road to the lake is open from generally late May until Late September. There is no fee to drive the road, but if one parks in a legal parking area, there is a fee. (
visit link)