About this place
Pilot Peak got its name because it guided people across the desert. The explorer John Fremont named it on his 1845 expedition, after Kit Carson rode ahead and found springs at its foot.
A year later the Donner Party steered for it across the Great Salt Lake Desert. They ran short of water, left wagons and oxen behind, and only just reached those springs. They are called Donner Springs now.
The Pilot range stands north of West Wendover. It runs south-southwest to north-northeast, with several rugged canyons spurring off the ridgeline. Pilot Peak is the high point, at 10,716 feet, just over the state line in Nevada.
This is rugged, remote country.
Motor vehicles may use the marked routes only. Nearly all of those routes need a high clearance four wheel drive.
People camp out here, walk, backpack, ride horses, take photographs, ride off-highway and watch wildlife.
The facts
- Cost
- Camping fee not confirmed
- Roads around it
- Nearly every route needs a high clearance four-wheel drive
- Type
- Specific campsite
- Managed by
- Bureau of Land Management
Getting there
Take Utah SR 30 to Grouse Creek Junction. From there Pilot Mountain Road runs south for 15 miles. Turn west onto Patterson Pass road.
Coordinates 41.19186111, -114.0124722
Open in Google Maps Agency page
What is near here
Nothing nationally famous is close. These are the landmarks nearby.
- Pilot Peak Directions
- Danger Cave Directions
Every distance on this page is the driving distance. A short distance can still take a long time. The road may be closed for the season, covered in snow, or washed out. Many of these roads are dirt. Plan your route before you leave home. Out here there is often no phone signal to look it up on the way.
Nearest town and supplies
- Montello, NV Directions
- West Wendover, NV Directions
West Wendover is big enough that you’d normally expect fuel and somewhere to buy food. Nobody from here has been to check, so don’t count on it if you’re running low.
Why “at least”: this route is hard to measure. We worked the drive out twice, with two separate mapping tools, and they gave different answers. That usually means there is no road close to the campsite, so the drive doubles back a long way. The figure above is the longer of the two. The real drive could be further still, so check the route before you set off.
Why the drive to town is usually twice what the map says — what we found measuring every campsite in this guide.
When it’s time to move on
On most public land you can camp for 14 days before you have to move on. Check this site’s own limit before you plan a long stay. When you move on, the Bureau of Land Management usually wants you at least 25 to 30 miles away. So the free campsites closest to you are the ones you cannot use.
One in this guide sits inside that 25 miles. The nearest one you could move to is Devil's Playground Designated Routes, Utah — 29 miles in a straight line, but at least a 37 mile drive.
Why “at least”: there is no road right at this campsite, so the drive is hard to measure and the real one could be further. Check the route before you set off.
This guide covers five states and does not list every free campsite, so there may be something closer that we do not hold. Check this site’s own rule before you rely on it.
Have you been here?
Fees and access change, and the records do not always keep up. If you have been, tell us what you found.
Thank you, that is recorded. It helps the next person.
Add road notes for this site
The thing we cannot get from any government record is what the drive in is actually like. If you have done it, this is the most useful thing you can leave behind. We read everything before it appears, and we print a first name with it if you give one.
Thank you. A person will read it before it goes on the page.
Where this information comes from
The description on this page is ours. The facts in it, and the fee and facility details below it, come from the Bureau of Land Management’s own records, read in August 2026.