Lincoln Lake - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Mt Goliath Natural Area is located 16.5 miles south of Idaho Springs on the Mt Evans Scenic Byway. It protects the largest, northernmost stand of Bristlecone Pine trees in North America, and is internationally recognized as one of the purest locations to study alpine ecology.While bristlecone pines highlight this area, it also supports localized micro-climates with plants found nowhere else below the Arctic Circle.

Mount Goliath is a peak high on the shoulders of Mount Evans located outside of Idaho Springs within the Arapaho National Forest. Here in this fragile alpine environment Denver Botanic Gardens oversees the highest cultivated garden in the U.S., managed in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service. Amid grand mountain vistas, the 1.5 mile Pesman Trail winds through subalpine and alpine areas of bristlecone pines and wildflowers.

The Chicago Lakes are located south of Idaho Springs in the Mt Evans Wilderness Area. These spectacular alpine lakes lie .65 miles and 313' apart in a broad valley beneath Mt Evans, Mt Spalding and Mount Warren. Visitors will enjoy stunning alpine scenery and wildlife that includes moose, elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goat.

Summit Lake Park is a park located along Mount Evans Scenic Byway about 64 miles west of Denver, Colorado. The park is 160 acres in size and contains alpine tundra. Land to the east of the lake is in a state of permafrost which helps to prevent drainage of the area. During the summer, the park is filled with wildflowers, some of which have not been found anywhere else outside of the Arctic Circle. The park is named after Summit Lake, the headwaters of Bear Creek.

Echo Lake Park is a park located along the Mount Evans Scenic Byway about 33.5 mi west of Denver, Colorado. The park provides a stone shelter with picnic tables and barbecue grills on one end of the lake, and the 1926 Echo Lake Lodge and an Arapaho National Forest campground are found at the other. Access to backpacking trails, including the Chicago Lakes trail and Lincoln Lakes trail, can be found adjacent to the lake. The park is part of the Denver Mountain Parks system.