Echo Lake is shallow, oligotrophic lake near Mount Evans in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Situated at 10,600 feet above sea level, it is about 13 miles by road to Idaho Springs (Highway 103), and an equal distance to the top of Mount Evans. The road to the summit, Mt. Evans Scenic and Historic Byway (Highway 5), is advertised as the "highest paved highway in North America", and is a popular biking route. Echo Lake Park, maintained by the city of Denver 60 miles away, provides a stone shelter with picnic and barbeque grills on one end of the lake, while an Arapaho National Forest campground is found at the other. Access to backpacking trails, including the Chicago Lakes trail and Lincoln Lakes trail, can be found adjacent to the lake.

Echo Lake formed during the latest period of glaciation roughly 10,000 years ago. As glaciers retreated in the Chicago Creek valley, lateral moraines formed a natural dam to drainage, forming the lake. The ecosystem around the lake is dominated by Engleman Spruce and Sub-Alpine Fir, with some Limber Pine on exposed sites.