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Pilot Peak is the predominant mountain of the Pilot Range, in far eastern Elko County, Nevada, in the western United States. Located at approximately 41°01.3'N and 114°04.7'W, it rises almost 6000 feet (1830 m) above the Great Salt Lake Desert to an elevation of 10,716 feet (3265 m).
Pilot Peak was named in 1845 for its use as an easily recognized landmark. John C. Fremont saw the peak from the east during his third expedition, mapping the Great Basin. Wondering whether his entire party could cross the desert, he sent Kit Carson ahead to scout for water sources. Finding a perennial spring just east of the peak, Carson lit a large bonfire, the smoke from which signalled Fremont that the crossing was possible.
In 1846 the Donner Party also used the peak as a landmark for their crossing of the Bonneville Salt Flats, part of the Hastings Cutoff emigrant route. Running out of water, they had to temporarily abandon their wagons and oxen in order to reach the springs (now called Donner Springs) at the base of the peak. They eventually recovered their stock animals and most of their wagons, and continued their journey to the California Trail and the Sierra Nevada mountains.
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