Mt. Evans, 14,264 feet, the prominent mountain WSW of Denver, is actually the high point and centerpiece of a dissected mountain ridge that stretches north to south between the Clear Creek and North Fork Valleys. This massif is connected to the Continental Divide by a high alpine ridge to its west, crossed by the Guanella Pass Road; the latter connects Georgetown, on I-70, with Grant, on US 285, and may be inaccessible in winter or after heavy snowstorms (Guanella Pass has an elevation of 11,669 feet).
Most of the Mt. Evans massif is protected within the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area. During the summer months, the central peak and its fascinating alpine ecosystem can be accessed with the family car by taking Colorado 103 south and upward from Idaho Springs (on I-70) and then switching to the Mt. Evans Highway (Colorado 5), a toll road, at Echo Lake. More adventurous visitors can hike into the wilderness from a large number of trailheads; the most popular begin at the Mt. Evans State Wildlife Area, west of Evergreen, at the Deer Creek Trailhead, off US 285 via Park County Road 43, and from the Guanella Pass Road, especially south of the pass in the Geneva Creek Valley.
Bear Creek and its web of tributaries drain the east face of the Mt. Evans massif, creeks along its north and northwest edge drop into the Clear Creek Valley and tributaries of the North Fork of the South Platte drain the south and southwest slopes. Since the entire massif lies east of the Continental Divide, all of its streams eventually lead to the South Platte River and thence to the Platte, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
