Pilot Knob

Pilot Knob is a 13,738-foot-elevation (4,187-meter) mountain summit located on the shared boundary of San Juan County with San Miguel County, in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated nine miles west of the community of Silverton, on land managed by San Juan National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest. Pilot Knob is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains, and is west of the Continental Divide. It ranks as the 132nd-highest peak in Colorado, and topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above Trout Lake in three miles. Neighbors include Ulysses S Grant Peak 1.5 mile to the northeast, and Golden Horn one-half mile to the southeast. The mountain's name, which has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, was listed by Henry Gannett when he published A Gazetteer of Colorado in 1906. The peak is considered one of the most difficult to climb in Colorado because of its poor quality volcanic rock.