Summit Lake Park | |
Location | Clear Creek County, Colorado, USA |
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Nearest city | Idaho Springs, CO |
Coordinates | 39°35′55″N 105°38′39″W / 39.59861°N 105.64417°W |
Built | 1924 |
Architect | Benedict, Jules Jacques Benoit; CCC |
MPS | Denver Mountain Parks MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 95000110 [1] |
Designated | April 1965 |
CSRHP No. | 5CC.645 |
Added to NRHP | February 24, 1995 |
Summit Lake Park is a park located along Mount Evans Scenic Byway about 64 miles (100 km) west of Denver, Colorado. The park is 160 acres (0.65 km²) 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. [2] During the summer, the park is filled with wildflowers, some of which have not been found anywhere else outside of the Arctic Circle. [3] The park is named after Summit Lake, the headwaters of Bear Creek.
Summit Lake is a tarn which sits at 12,836 feet (3,912 m) elevation in a glacial cirque on the north face of Mount Blue Sky and the east face of Mount Spalding. To the north, there is a col (12,855 feet/3918 m elevation) looking down into the chain of two cirques holding the Chicago Lakes at the headwaters of Chicago Creek. [4] By one count that includes several unnamed lakes, Summit Lake is the 13th highest lake in the United States. [5] In 1915, the USGS reported that Summit Lake was the highest lake in Colorado, at 12,740 feet. [6] Later secondary sources occasionally report it as the highest lake in the United States. [7]
The land was acquired by Denver in 1924 and incorporated into the Denver Mountain Parks system. [3] It was declared a National Natural Landmark in April, 1965. [8]