Pilot Rock

Looking from the trailhead towards the summit

Pilot Rock (6,234ft) – Highpoint of Petrified Forest National Park

Eric Gilbertson

October 22, 2015

Pilot Rock is not a highpoint that gets climbed very often. It’s the highest point in Petrified Forest National Park, but there are no trails leading to it and no petrified fossils near it. The closest most people get is a viewpoint on the road at Kachina Point.

On the summit

I was working on climbing National Park highpoints, so Pilot Rock was on my list. I had just finished climbing the highpoint of Mesa Verde National Park on October 21 and drove to a good campsite on the outskirts of Petrified Forest. It’s a bit more difficult to find free campsites in this area of the country because I wanted to be careful not to be on an Indian Reservation. I think I could actually get in trouble for doing that, while camping on BLM land is generally fine.

After driving on a secondary dirt road for awhile I thought I’d found a good spot, then I heard dogs barking and realized I was close to a house I couldn’t see in the dark. I drove even farther up the dirt road into the open plains and then pulled off on the side where nobody would care.

Heading back

In the morning I drove into Petrified Forest and parked at Kachina Point. I packed a few liters of water, some snacks, and headed off. Pilot Rock is visible for most of the hike, so I just headed northwest towards it. The hiking was fun and reminded me of the badlands going up sandy mud ribs through complicated terrain.

After a few hours the terrain flattened out and I came to the base of Pilot Rock. A quick scramble brought me to the summit. The terrain was very flat in most directions except the direction I’d come. I took a long break and signed in at the register.

On the return I followed my exact same route back, arriving at the car a few hours later. I had some spare time that afternoon to drive around the park and walk through some impressive petrified logs on the sides of a trail, before driving out to find another place to camp.

© 2015 – 2019, egilbert@alum.mit.edu. All rights reserved.