| Mount Evans Wilderness | |
|---|---|
IUCN category Ib (
wilderness area) | |
 | |
  | |
| Location | Clear Creek County / Park County, CO, USA |
| Nearest city | Idaho Springs |
| Coordinates | 39°35′16″N 105°38′34″W / 39.58778°N 105.64278°W [1] |
| Area | 74,401 acres (301.09 km2) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
The Mount Evans Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area in Arapaho National Forest and Pike National Forest about 30 miles (48 km) west of Denver, Colorado. The wilderness area is named after Mount Blue Sky's former name, Mount Evans [2] [3] [4]
History
The first efforts to protect the Mount Evans (now known as Mount Blue Sky) area involved the purchase of Echo Lake Park and Summit Lake Park as part of the system of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. for the Denver Mountain Parks. This effort led to a proposal for a National Park overlapping, to a significant extent, what is now the Mount Evans Wilderness Area. [5]
The first large tract of land in what is now the Mount Evans Wilderness area to be formally protected was the Abyss Lake Scenic Area in Pike National Forest, protecting the Abyss Lake cirque and much of the Lake Fork of Scot Gomer Creek, a tributary of Geneva Creek that drains the south side of Mount Blue Sky. This area was designated prior to 1955. [6]
References
- ^ "Mount Evans Wilderness". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Blevins, Jason (September 15, 2023). "The U.S. Geological Survey's Board on Geographic Names voted Friday to approve Mount Blue Sky as the replacement for Mount Evans". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
- ^ "Mount Evans Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ "Mount Evans Wilderness Area". Colorado Wilderness. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Wyckoff, William (1999). Creating Colorado: The Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860-1940. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0300071183.
- ^ National Forest Vacations. United States Forest Service. 1955.
