Evergreen Mountain Trail East ->The Summit -> Evergreen Mtn West-> Wild Iris Loop-> Bluebird Meadow Trail -> Silver Fox-> Ponderosa-> Evergreen Mtn East
Starting Elevation: 7400
Highest elevation: 8536 ( At the Summit)
Trip Length: 6.3 miles ( with Scenic view overlook included = .4 miles) It took us 2 hrs 45 minutes.
Trail Uses: Multi-use trail; hikers, bikers & horses
Pets Allowed: Yes on leash
Fee(s): None
Bathrooms: Yes at the parking lots
This is our second trip on this trail and both times it was awesome. It is a popular trail and while most hikers stick to the Three sisters loop, the Evergreen mountain trails are really the highlight for us. It is also great in the summer because the trail has great tree coverage so you have nice shade and cool breeze when it is good and hot. Here is the tricky part, if you are an early riser ( which I am not but trying so hard to become one) get here by 7-7:30 as the parking lots get full early and you cannot park on the road near the entrance. We saw many people getting ticketed by the Evergreen Police and they were stopping new arrivals from trying to follow suit. Being a little picky here but I prefer the East Parking lot, it is all shaded and after a long hot hike it is heaven to come back to a car that is not 100+ degrees from sitting in the sun the whole time.
Ok so lets talk trail, start out going out of the East parking lot cross over the Road:
This goes about .3 mile until you pass another trail head for Ranch view trail, which is an option for the return trip back to the parking lot if you don’t want to take the Wild Iris trail over to the west parking lot for our choice in ending our loop.
Stay to the left on the Evergreen Mtn East trail and head up to the summit. It is a steady climb up but there are some nice breaks on the switchbacks of flatness to help you catch your breath and suck down some water. There is a nice lookout point about halfway up the mountain that is worth stopping and taking in the view at:
And here is where we are headed……
Today the path felt really inspiring, especially with the coverage of all the trees:
When we got to the summit, there were 4 bikers having a moment….one of them had a mechanical issue and the other 3 looked really annoyed with him so I pulled a picture from our first visit to show you the trail signage. Be prepared I was using my phone and it looks like Aaron was not too sure what was going on:
It is easy to walk right past the summit trail and continue on to the Evergreen west trail and the summit is the whole reason to do this hike in the first place. So make sure to look around at this point and take the hard left up the summit trail. The nice part is that this is the last little bit of climbing you really have to do on the hike. So the next few shots are of the beauty you can see at the summit, it is a great place to rest and have a snack or just tplain bask in the peace and stare at Mount Evans in the distance. We came upon 5 bikers all sitting and enjoying the morning view.
After going around the summit loop, we went and checked out the Scenic spur which overlooks the town of Evergreen. I did take a picture of the trail head but I was fascinated by the hard lesson being learned by one biker from another…..One was texting ( yeah not sure how that is possible going up this trail) and she wiped out taking down the biker who was heading downhill. So I was being nosey and listening to the fight brewing instead of making sure my camera focused nicely. Pretty sure the texter could have used some harsher language thrown at her, but apparently the wipee was a nicer person then I.
Anyway here are some shots of the scenic view:
So from here we finished the Summit loop and then took the West Evergreen mtn trail down. We came up to the Wild Iris loop and took it across the field to the Bluebird Meadow trail which starts at the West Parking lot.
So we are heading back to the parking the wildflowers were plentiful so the next few pictures are of the those and then our last few signs we passed on the way back:
I have read that this is also a great place to hike during the shoulder seasons, just be ready for snow or for the weather to change quickly. It has quickly become one of favorites!
Getting There
To access the park, travel south of Evergreen, Colorado on Highway 73. Turn west on Buffalo Park Road, approximately 1 mile to the east parking lot. The physical address for this east trailhead is30299 Buffalo Park Road. A second parking lot is located another 1/2 mile along Buffalo Park Road and the physical address for this larger lot is 31677 Buffalo Park Road. Motorized vehicles are confined to the parking areas and roadways.
hiking to healthy 
I am so looking forward to doing this hike with Doug & Levi!