Mount Goliath / M. Walter Pesman Alpine Garden Loop

Mount Goliath / M. Walter Pesman Alpine Garden Loop

En route along the highest paved road in North America, the Mount Evans Road, is a great wildflower hike that encompasses both tundra and forest. In this case, much of the forest is an incredible collection of picturesque, ancient bristlecone pine trees interspersed with colorful flowers. Mount Goliath is a sub-peak of 14,280-foot Mount Evans. The Mount Goliath Natural Area, in which the M. Walter Pesman Trail travels, is on a south-facing slope. If you use two vehicles, this trail can be a one-way downhill trek of 1.5 miles. It is treated here as a climb from the lower parking area through conifers, into the bristlecone area, and then more steeply up across alpine terrain until it joins the 0.5-mile Alpine Garden Loop trail. Even the drive to the lower trailhead from the Echo Lake turnoff is trimmed with flowers, dominated by paintbrushes and fireweed. Farther up, rock senecio, sky pilot, and old-man-of-the-mountains decorate the roadsides. At 12,150 feet—the elevation of the upper end of the trail—you’ll breathe about one-third less oxygen, but you’ll absorb about one-third more solar radiation than at sea level. Wildflower alert: Alpine rock gardens displaying dozens of colorful tundra and subalpine species.

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