Pilot Knob

** Use at Your Own Risk **

01G

Pilot Knob (DeListed)

6200'+

Location: Kern County, about 2.5 miles north-northeast of the town of Onyx, 155 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club	Kern County
Forest Service	Sequoia National Forest
USGS Topo	Onyx 7½
Official HPS Maps	TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO!
	Viewable JPG file - Approximately 370K
	GPX file or Google Earth KML file to download to GPS units and other map software (How to use GPX and KML files)
	Routes as shown on CalTopo using the above files (How to use CalTopo)

Printable version of this route

ROUTE 1

Distance: 6 miles round trip cross-country
Gain: 3400'
Time: 8-10 hours round trip
Rating: Class 2, very strenuous
Navigation: Moderate
Leader Rating: "I", normal conditions
Original: Charlie Knapke, October 1988

DRIVING ROUTE 1

From Mojave go north on SR 14 to the intersection with SR 178 (Walker Pass Road). Turn left.
Go west on SR 178 for about 23 miles to Bloomfield Ranch Road (paved, on right side). At this spot SR 178 makes a giant turn south. Go 0.8 mile further to a dirt road on the right. Turn right.
Note your odometer and go as follows:
At 0.3 and 0.35 mile, forks. Go straight.
At 0.4 mile, several buildings with a bridge. Park on the right near the trailers before the bridge. This is private property. Do not proceed (either by car or on foot) without permission from the property owner(s).
Alternatively, park on the highway and hike the 0.4 mile.

HIKING ROUTE 1

From the parking area (2800'), cross the bridge on the south fork of the Kern River.
Continue north up the road about 50 yards and find a cattle trail heading to the left. In another 100 yards a large canyon opens up to the left (west). This canyon is an alternative route, but is typically very brushy.
Leave the road and hike up the cattle trail, then over a minor rise on the right, then down into the canyon. Note this location for your return.
Staying generally on the slopes north of the main canyon, ascend steeply to a saddle (5520'+) just south of the peak. The rocks in the canyon bottom are polished and very slippery. The route to the north of the canyon bottom can look difficult, but usually turns out to be easily passable.
Turn right and follow a well-ducked trail up to the summit.
Keep to the right of the rock outcroppings near the top. The register is on the west summit block.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Permission is required to park and hike on private land. Contact information for the landowner in 2005 was:

Frank and Josephine Stone
White Blanket Ranch
PO Box 376
Onyx, CA 93255-0376

Enclose a self-addressed stamped post card. There is no known formal fee schedule, but in the past about $5 per hiker or $20 per carload seems to have been appropriate.

This peak lies within the Dome Lands Wilderness. A permit is not required for day hikes.

Learn more about Pilot Knob.

Please report any corrections or changes to the Mountain Records Chair.