Idaho Springs, Colorado.

If you’ve ever wanted to climb to the top of a 14,000-foot (4,267 m) mountain, you can do so with the majority of effort in having to put fuel in your gas tank or plug in your electric vehicle. You see dear reader, this mountain sports the highest scenic byway and the highest paved road in North America. From the parking lot at the top, most reasonably fit people can then finish the climb to the very top. If you look closely at the opening image, those “little bumps” at the top of the ridge are visitors who finished the climb to the top.

The scenic byway starts just outside Idaho Springs on Colorado State Highway 103. Enjoy the scenery, and you’ll know when you are getting to the road to Mount Evans when you get to Echo Lake. Stop at the lake and enjoy the view, and if so equipped, with appropriate licensure, try your luck at fishing the lake as many were on the day we visited.

At the Mount Evans welcome station, you will transition to State Highway 5 and begin the climb on North America’s highest paved road. Eventually, you will see that you have climbed above the tree line and Echo Lake is but a small part of the amazing view.

There are very few pull-offs along the side of the road which predictably narrows considerably near the top. Though it doesn’t look like it in the image above, we are parked in an area with a wide shoulder. I stood at the edge in front of the vehicle.

Summit Lake is still a bit of a drive from the top, and as we climbed, it started to get cloudy and a short light rain shower was falling as we stopped that the parking area to get a view of the lake.

The higher you go, the more expansive the views. This panoramic view shows the expanse of mountain meadows that are well above the treeline.

The higher you go, the narrower the highway becomes with the last sections even missing a painted centerline. It’s easy to see with the sharp switchbacks that larger vehicles are prohibited. If you have an RV or large trailer, be sure to check the allowed sizes before attempting to drive to the top. You can see the close distance between these two meeting vehicles. Looking above those vehicles, you can see the steepness of the grade on the switchback coming down from above.

On the way to the top, we found several small herds of mountain goats. These four individuals were part of a group of about 15 or so sharing the meadow grass.

Even in the middle of July, there are remnants of glaciers still on the highest plains. The panoramic view is another image stitched from several photos in Adobe Lightroom. This image is best viewed on my Flickr site. Click on the image to check out the detail in 4K HD.

We were fortunate when we reached the top to get one of the last remaining parking places along the drive into the lot. The lot itself was completely full. Even with many people wandering around the area, several mountain goats showed no fear of the people or their machines. I shared this image in a Cellpic Sunday post of our friend, Fred, capturing this juvenile goat examining a Tesla. He was probably looking at his reflection in the shiny automobile.

At 14,000 feet, there are health issues that cannot be ignored, especially for those who aren’t accustomed to the lack of oxygen at high altitudes. A large sign reminds visitors to be aware of the possibility of the need for medical assistance.

Those mountain goats also like the view from the highest points in an area. In the photo above, this mountain goat is enjoying the view. I suspect he heard my noisy Nikon shutter while snapping photos in the area as he turned and looked directly at me, all but daring me to take his picture.

There is a fee for entering the park, but holders of National Park passes will find they are accepted. The highway is open only from Memorial Day to Labor Day and you may need to use the Recreation.gov reservation system to gain a specific timed entry. More details can be found here.

We didn’t see any of the bighorn sheep that are known to inhabit the mountain, there was no shortage of mountain goats. If you click on any of the images above, you can view the photo in 2K HD format (the two panoramas are in 4K HD) on my Flickr site. I have also included some bonus photos in the Flickr album you can visit here.