Mount Blue Sky Byway, CO-5

Driving

by Plot Along: Rockies

The Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway climbs from Idaho Springs toward the 14,266-foot summit of Mount Blue Sky. CO-5, the road's final stretch above Echo Lake, tops out around 14,130 feet at a parking area just below the summit and is the highest paved road in North America. The mountain was renamed from Mount Evans in 2023 to honor the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples, and the road that climbs it has topped out higher than any other paved highway on the continent since it was finished in 1930.

The byway runs up CO-103 past Juniper Pass and Echo Lake, then CO-5 switchbacks above treeline through the bristlecone pines of Mount Goliath, some over 1,600 years old. It passes Summit Lake and plenty of mountain goats and bighorn sheep on the way to the boulder-strewn summit, where the air holds barely half the oxygen of sea level.

The high CO-5 section is seasonal, usually open Memorial Day through Labor Day, weather permitting, and now requires a timed-entry reservation. Fully paved, but narrow near the top, with no guardrails. Go for the goats and the air, not for speed.

Learn more: en.wikipedia.org

Idaho Springs
The byway's start, an old gold-mining town off I-70 in Clear Creek Canyon. The drive gathers at a public lot in the historic downtown, just southwest of the Vintage Moose Tavern, before CO-103 turns up toward the high country.
Echo Lake Lodge
A historic 1920s log-and-stone lodge at Echo Lake, about 10,600 feet, where CO-103 meets CO-5 at the foot of the summit road. The classic stop for a meal and the gateway to the high climb above treeline.
Chicago Lakes Lookout
An alpine stop on Mt Blue Sky Road by the Summit Lake lot, where a short walk reaches the overlook above the glacier-carved Chicago Lakes basin. Prime territory for mountain goats and bighorn sheep.
Mount Blue Sky Summit
The end of the pavement around 14,130 feet, the highest point you can reach by paved road on the continent. The true 14,266-foot summit is a short scramble higher, with views across a sea of Front Range peaks and air holding barely half the oxygen of sea level.

Idaho Springs

Echo Lake Lodge

Chicago Lakes Lookout

Mount Blue Sky Summit