Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway

The byway is really two roads joined together. From Idaho Springs it begins on Colorado Highway 103, a winding forest road that climbs about thirteen miles up to Echo Lake at roughly 10,600 feet. There, at the Echo Lake area, Colorado Highway 5 branches off and heads for the sky. Highway 5 is the part that makes the byway famous, a narrow paved ribbon that switchbacks another fifteen miles up to the summit parking area near the top of Mount Blue Sky. From bottom to top the drive gains more than seven thousand feet of elevation, which is why the air feels so thin by the time you reach the end.

The driving experience changes with every thousand feet you climb. Down low you are among thick evergreen forest. Higher up the trees thin out and shrink into a windswept zone called krummholz, where the wind sculpts them into low, twisted shapes. Above the treeline the world turns to alpine tundra, a fragile carpet of tiny plants, rock, and long views. Near the very top the road hugs the mountainside in tight curves, and in some places there is no guardrail between the pavement and the drop. Take it slowly, keep your eyes on the road, and use the pullouts when you want to look.

What makes Highway 5 special is that it is the highest paved road in North America, and it feels like it. The road is narrow, with steep grades and sharp switchbacks, and vehicles longer than thirty feet are not allowed on it. The reward for the climb is a landscape most people never see from a car window: alpine lakes cupped in glacier-carved bowls, herds of shaggy mountain goats picking across the rocks, and a summit view that on a clear day takes in mountain ranges a hundred miles away.

Most travelers reach the byway from Denver, and it is an easy drive to find. Head west out of Denver on Interstate 70 for about thirty miles to Idaho Springs, a historic mining town tucked in a canyon along Clear Creek. Leave the interstate at Idaho Springs and follow Colorado Highway 103, which climbs south and east up toward Echo Lake. This first stretch is open year-round and is a lovely forest drive on its own.

At Echo Lake, Colorado Highway 5 turns off and heads up to the summit. This is the fee-gated, upper portion of the byway and the part with limited seasons and possible reservations, so it pays to check ahead before you go. From Echo Lake it is about fifteen miles of steady climbing to the summit parking area near the top of Mount Blue Sky.

You can also approach from the mountain town of Evergreen or from the Bergen Park area by taking Colorado Highway 103 from the north, which meets the same route down to Echo Lake. Whichever way you come, plan to arrive at the upper gate earlier in the day. Mornings tend to be clearer and calmer, and afternoon thunderstorms are common and can turn dangerous fast at these heights.

The road to the summit was a bold idea from the very start. Construction began in 1923 as a Denver-area project to build a scenic highway all the way to the top of a fourteen-thousand-foot peak, something no other road in the country attempted. Crews blasted and graded their way up the mountain through short summer seasons, and the road was finished around 1930. It opened to the public in June of 1931, and for decades it has carried travelers higher by car than any other paved road on the continent.

For most of its life the mountain and the byway carried the name Mount Evans, after John Evans, a territorial governor of Colorado. In 2023 the name was changed. The US Board on Geographic Names voted to rename the peak Mount Blue Sky, and the byway was renamed to match. The new name honors the Cheyenne people, sometimes called the Blue Sky People, and the Arapaho, both of whom hold the mountain sacred. The change came because the old name honored a governor connected to the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, in which US soldiers killed a large number of peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho people. The renaming was carried out in consultation with tribal nations as an act of respect and repair.

The road earned its scenic honors decades after it was built. On July 1, 1993, the US Forest Service designated it a National Forest Scenic Byway, recognizing the extraordinary landscape it crosses through the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Colorado has also named it a state scenic byway. The designation celebrates a route that climbs through nearly every mountain life zone in a single drive, from thick forest to bare alpine tundra, all within a short trip from Denver.

The mountain the road climbs is far older than any of these names. Mount Blue Sky is built largely from ancient rock uplifted and then carved by glaciers during the ice ages. Those slow rivers of ice gouged out the bowls that now cradle Echo Lake and Summit Lake and left behind the rugged, rocky summit that greets drivers at the top. High on the mountain grows a forest older than almost anything else in Colorado, a stand of gnarled bristlecone pines, some of which have been alive for well over a thousand years.

• At 14,130 feet, the summit of Mount Blue Sky is the end of the highest paved road in North America. No other paved road on the continent reaches this high.
• Construction on the road began in 1923 and it opened to the public in June of 1931, an astonishing engineering feat for its era.
• The mountain and byway were renamed from Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky in 2023 by the US Board on Geographic Names, honoring the Cheyenne, sometimes called the Blue Sky People, and the Arapaho, and moving away from a name tied to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.
• The bristlecone pines at Mount Goliath are among the oldest living things in Colorado, with some trees estimated to be well over a thousand years old and shaped by centuries of wind into twisted, sculptural forms.
• The byway was designated a National Forest Scenic Byway by the US Forest Service on July 1, 1993.
• Vehicles longer than thirty feet are not allowed on the upper road, Colorado Highway 5, because of its tight switchbacks and narrow width.
• Herds of mountain goats and bighorn sheep live on the upper slopes year-round, and it is common to see them right beside the road near the top, often with young ones in early summer.
• The Meyer-Womble Observatory sits near the summit and was for years one of the highest observatories in the world, taking advantage of the thin, clear high-altitude air.
• The road climbs through nearly every mountain life zone in a single drive, from evergreen forest to wind-stunted krummholz to open alpine tundra, all in under thirty miles.

The US Forest Service designated it a National Forest Scenic Byway on July 1, 1993, recognizing the extraordinary landscape it crosses through the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. It is also a Colorado state scenic byway. The road itself is much older, with construction beginning in 1923 and the highway opening to the public in June of 1931.

In 2023 the US Board on Geographic Names voted to rename the mountain and its byway Mount Blue Sky. The old name honored a territorial governor connected to the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, in which US soldiers killed many peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho people. The new name honors the Cheyenne, sometimes called the Blue Sky People, and the Arapaho, both of whom hold the mountain sacred. The change was made in consultation with tribal nations.

The byway runs about twenty-eight miles from Idaho Springs to the summit, following Colorado Highway 103 up to Echo Lake and then Colorado Highway 5 to the top. Driven straight through, the climb takes well over an hour each way because the road is steep and winding, but most people give the trip a good part of a day to stop at the lakes, walk among the bristlecone pines, and take in the summit.

Climbing up, the highlights include Echo Lake at the base of the upper road, the ancient bristlecone pines at the Mount Goliath Natural Area, glacier-carved Summit Lake above the treeline, and the summit of Mount Blue Sky itself at 14,130 feet. Along the way it is common to see mountain goats and bighorn sheep right beside the road.

The lower portion up to Echo Lake on Colorado Highway 103 is free and open to the public. The upper road to the summit, Colorado Highway 5, is a fee area, and in the busy summer season a timed-entry reservation may be required to drive it. Because these rules and fees change from year to year, it is best to check current requirements with the managing agency before you go.

The upper road is only open in the warm months, so summer is the season. Within that window, early to mid morning is the best time, when the air is calm and clear and the wildlife is most active. Afternoon thunderstorms are common at these heights and can be dangerous, so aim to reach the summit and start back down before storms build in the afternoon.

No. The upper road to the summit, Colorado Highway 5, is seasonal and is generally open only from around late May to early September, weather permitting. Snow closes it the rest of the year. The lower road up to Echo Lake on Colorado Highway 103 stays open much longer, though it too can close in winter storms, so always check current road status before setting out.

No. The entire byway is paved, and a standard passenger car handles it in good summer weather. What matters more than four-wheel drive is that your vehicle and its brakes are in good shape for a long, steep climb and descent, and that it is under thirty feet long, since longer vehicles are not allowed on the upper road.

The summit sits at 14,130 feet, high enough that the thin air affects nearly everyone. Some people feel lightheaded, short of breath, or headachy, which are signs of altitude sickness, so move slowly, drink water, and turn back down if you feel unwell. It is far colder and windier at the top than at the bottom even in summer, so bring warm layers, and know that weather can change quickly.

There are no fuel stations or services on the mountain itself, so fill up and stock up in Idaho Springs before you start the climb. Beyond Echo Lake there is nothing but road, lakes, and tundra, so bring water, snacks, warm clothing, and a full tank. Cell service is spotty to nonexistent at the higher elevations, so do not count on your phone near the top.