Backpacking Trail Review: Chicago Lakes (Mt. Evans Wilderness)

Backpacking Trail Review: Chicago Lakes
(Mt. Evans Wilderness, Colorado)

SHLEY WANDERS STANDS NEXT TO CHICAGO LAKES #2

For this blog post, I am going to do a brief breakdown discussing our first backpacking trip of the year to Chicago Lakes in the Mt. Evans Wilderness of Colorado.  I think this is a great beginner backpacking trip but still covers some solid mileage, let’s take a look at the hiking stats and how we broke down each day of our trip back in June.  

Hike Stats: Chicago Lakes, Mt. Evans Wilderness, Colorado
Total Mileage: 9.8 miles (if you plan to hike to Chicago Lake #2)
Elevation Gain: 2,392 ft (if you plan to hike to Chicago Lake #2)
Trail Type: Out & Back
Difficulty (according to AllTrails): Moderate
Parking lot / Trailhead: Echo Lake Park
Permits: Yes, Self-issued as you enter the Mount Evans and Lost Creek Wilderness area you will see a sign-in box, if you plan to backpack camp please register to help the parks understand the visitation rates. Unlimited permits for this area (no quota)
Link to Chicago Lakes Trail, Colorado on AllTrails

Day One and Night One - Car camping on the edge of Mt. Evans Wilderness

To start our trip we went up to the Mount Evans Wilderness where I know of a few car camping spots to settle in for the first night. There is signage in the Mt. Evans Wilderness as to where you can and cannot park your car for camping (I believe the first seven miles are restricted to no camping, beyond that you’re good to respectfully car camp).  After we set up our tents and built out our camp we decided to go up Mount Evans Road to catch a short sunset hike near the Goliath Park recreation area.  We did a short 2 mile hike to break in our legs and prepare ourselves for the next day of backpacking into our campground near Chicago Lakes #1 .  I was lucky to have three of my childhood best friends visiting us for this trip so we wanted to ease in to the backpacking portion of the trip and this was a great first night in the wilderness.  Throughout the night we struggled a bit as a wind storm moved into the area and aggressively whipped our tents around endlessly through the night.  I would say this is one of the challenges to car camping up in this area, we could not predict the wind storm but we did camp at a lookout that is known to be very windy.  Be mindful of the location you decide to car camp… although it was not windy when we first pulled up and started setting up camp, it was hard to predict what the weather would do to us on that first night back at the end of June. (not ideal to start a backpacking trip with very little sleep but we rallied and we sent it anyway…)

Day Two - Backpacking into Chicago Lakes and Mt. Evans Wilderness

After spending some time to sleep in and gather a little bit more rest in the morning we packed up our car camping set up and made our way over to the trailhead. The trailhead to access this backpacking area is located at Echo Lake Park right before the Mount Evans Road access gate. We parked the car and took over the group outing picnic area to escape from the wind and eat some breakfast.  After breakfast and coffee, we did our final gear and pack check and made our way over to start the trail.

The trail starts by cruising by Echo Lake before you reach a fork in the trail you will see signage to take the trail on the right that leads back to the Idaho Springs reservoir and Chicago Lakes basin. The trail starts out very mellow and then exits the woods as you walk along a higher trail that looks down into the Chicago Lakes Valley.  As you reenter the woods you begin descending down to the forest floor, after walking this trail for a little while he will come across a bridge that takes you over a small stream, and after that, you will see the Idaho Springs reservoir on your left. Be sure to pay attention to all signage because some of the trail hikes you through private land - be sure to stay on the road and make sure you’re on the correct trail (using an app like All Trails). As you proceed up the dirt road the trail begins to climb gradually, and eventually, you’ll reach the Mount Evans Wilderness registration box. If you plan to backpack by Chicago Lakes be sure to obtain the self-issued permit so that the Park Service is able to analyze trail traffic. After passing the registration box the trail continues to ascend into the Chicago Lakes Basin

We took a few extended breaks to have snacks by the river crossing, cover our exposed skin with suntan lotion and check our AllTrails maps.  There is less tree coverage as you get closer to Chicago lake number one, the trail continues to ascend through a series of switchbacks and overgrown creek beds.  We were lucky that all the snow had melt before we started hiking this trail, some portions of the trail were muddy and damp from the recent spring snowmelt. As you get closer to Chicago lake number one the trail opens up and you are greeted with epic views of Mount Evans and the surrounding peaks.  

After passing the first lake we set our backpacks down in a shady spot and began looking around for a backpacking campsite large enough to hold our four tents.  At first we had a little bit of trouble finding areas where previous backpackers had camped due to a few sections of trail that were cut off because of Spring dead fall.  We saw a moose as we continue to search for a place to pitch our tents and finally settled on two different areas just passed Chicago Lakes one.  After setting up camp, we climbed in our tent for a short afternoon nap so that the hot sun would fall lower into the sky.  We snacked, chat and cracked jokes (and a few seltzers) I made the group decision to go to Chicago Lakes Two just before sunset.  It was an additional mile to climb up and explore the second Chicago lake in the Chicago Lakes Basin.  We explored the tundra above Treeline, took some group photos and put on our jacket-shells to protect us from the wind.  A few of our group members decided to make their way back to camp because it was getting windy and the sun was going to set by the valley wall.  We all made our descent  back to camp, and decided to post up at one campsite to make our backpacking meals.  After dinner, we all sat around a small campfire (before the fire bans) told stories and snacked some more before heading to our tents to crash for the night. We were exhausted from a sleepless car-camping night and it felt good to climb into the tent and sleep under Colorado’s twinkling starry skies

Day Three - Backpacking out of the Chicago Lakes basin and driving to Winter Park for our Hut-Camping trip

We awoke relatively early because we wanted to avoid hiking up and out of the Chicago Lakes basin during the hottest part of the day.  We also had another hike planned for our afternoon as we planned to hike into a mountain hut near Winter Park, Colorado. We broke down our camps, boiled water for coffee and oatmeal, and re-packed our bags for the climb out.  For me, I think the more challenging route was going in rather than coming out of the Chicago Lakes Basin, however, the trail ascends very steeply at the end (about 1,000 feet of elevation gain to get back up to the Echo Lake level).  The majority of the hike out descends past Lake number one and descends again past the Idaho Springs reservoir, this is where you enter the forest again (crossing the stream via bridge) and then over to a few switchbacks before hitting the 5-6 switch backs that climb 1,000 vertical feet.  After climbing the most challenging section of the hike out you will continue through the forest until you reach the edge of Echo Lake which will then dump you back to the Echo Lake parking lot where we recommend leaving your car for this overnight trip.  There are a few different ways to do this backpacking trip; you could spend a few more days back in the Mount Evans Wilderness ascending up to Summit Lake and if you’re feeling very ambitious ascending all the way to Mount Evans Summit which stands at 14,264 vertical feet.  There’s a lot to explore in this wilderness area, along with fishing opportunities, other hiking and climbing routes and also you could consider camping next to Chicago Lakes #2 for an added challenge.  We did not choose to camp higher than tree line to avoid wind and further exposure to the elements.

Thank you for taking some time to read my backpacking trip review and I hope you were able to gain some insight from this blog post. Feel free to drop any questions or comments below or hit me up directly on Instagram if you have any specific questions: @fr33water 
Happy Hiking & stay safe out there!
-Frankie S. (fr33water) 

Chicago Lakes on All Trails

(Keep in mind if you’re peeking at the trail on All Trails that this hike takes you all the WAY to Summit Lake which is way more elevation than just going to Chicago Lakes #2 … use the Pro Trails Link above to review the hike stats for just Chicago Lakes #1 and #2 and the backpacking zone.