Wilson Peak is a mountain peak in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. It is located in the

Lizard Head Wilderness The Lizard Head Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado. It contains and is jointly managed by the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests. It is southwest of the town of Telluride and is named for a prominent rock formation t ...

of the

Uncompahgre National Forest Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose County, Colorado, Montrose, Mesa County, Colorado, Mesa, San Miguel Count ...

, in the northwestern

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

. It is the highest point in San Miguel County. The mountain was named for A.D. Wilson, the chief topographer with the

Hayden Survey Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...

. Nearby Mount Wilson also honors him. The original indigenous name for the mountain was Shandoka, which translates to "Storm Maker", a reference to the peak's effect on local weather patterns.

Geography

Wilson Peak is in the western part of the

. The western San Juans are also known as the San Miguel Mountains or the Wilson Massif. Two additional fourteen thousand foot peaks are within of its summit: Mount Wilson () and El Diente Peak (). Gladstone Peak () is located on the ridge between Wilson Peak and Mount Wilson.

Recreation

Wilson Peak is climbed by hundreds each year, primarily in summer months, but winter ascents are not unusual and sometimes serve as the beginning of

backcountry skiing Backcountry skiing ( US), also called off-piste (Europe), alpine touring, or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing, which i ...

descents. Summer ascents of the peak are considered Class 3 technical climbs, meaning that scrambling over rock is required (with hand holds being used for balance) and ropes typically not employed. The easiest route begins at the Rock of Ages Trailhead (elevation ) located west of

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The firs ...

. Forest Trail 429 climbs southeast through Silver Pick Basin to the Rock of Ages Saddle (between Silver Pick and Navajo Basins) at . Forest Trail 408 is then followed east to on the saddle between Gladstone and Wilson Peaks before the ridge is climbed northeast to the summit. Round trip distance is .

In popular culture

The stately and classically mountainous profile of Wilson Peak as viewed from the East and North has led to its use as a symbol of rugged mountains in advertising. Wilson Peak features prominently in many

television advertisements A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors b ...

which is located in

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountai ...

. The Jeep automobile corporation also often uses Wilson Peak as a backdrop in its television commercials, particularly in advertisements for its off-road models. Because of its proximity to

, many local companies and festivals use images of Wilson Peak in the advertising to convey the beauty and mountainous nature of the area. Wilson Peak is featured prominently in

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

's movie ''

The Hateful Eight ''The Hateful Eight'' (sometimes marketed as ''The H8ful Eight'' or ''The Hateful 8'') is a 2015 American Western mystery thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leig ...

''.

References

External links

*
Traditional Route, with discussion of private land restrictionsWilson Peak on Distantpeak.comA gallery of photographs of Wilson PeakTopographic mapAccess and Preservation Project for Wilson Peak
{{Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Mountains of San Miguel County, Colorado Fourteeners of Colorado Uncompahgre National Forest

Geography

Recreation

In popular culture

See also

References

External links