Pilot Knob (Fresno County, California)

{{Short description|Mountain in the state of California}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Pilot Knob

| photo = Pilot Knob, Packsaddle Lake.jpg

| photo_caption = Southeast aspect, from Packsaddle Lake

| elevation_ft = 12245

| elevation_ref = USGS Topographic Map - Mount HilgardPeter Browning (1986), Place Names of the Sierra Nevada: From Abbot to Zumwalt, Wilderness Press, {{ISBN|9780899970479}}, p. 170

| prominence_ft = 645

| prominence_ref = {{cite peakbagger |pid=13544|name=Pilot Knob, California|accessdate=2022-05-21}}

| isolation_mi = 2.50

| isolation_ref = {{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/32662|title=Pilot Knob - 12,245' CA|website=listsofjohn.com|accessdate=2022-05-21}}

| parent_peak = Mount Morrow (12,402 ft)

| listing = Sierra Peaks Section

| map = California#USA

| map_caption = Location in California

| map_size = 260

| label_position = bottom

| location = Fresno County, California, U.S.

| range = Sierra Nevada

| coordinates = {{coord|37.2734051|N|118.7571109|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=264735|name=Pilot Knob|accessdate=2022-05-21}}

| topo = USGS Mount Hilgard

| type = Fault block

| rock = Granodiorite

| age = Cretaceous

| first_ascent = Unknown[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/mount_humphreys.html George Bloom, Hervey Voge, and Ray Van Aken, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954)]

| easiest_route = {{YDS|2}} East slope

}}

Pilot Knob is a {{convert|12,245|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} mountain summit located in Fresno County in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated at the intersection of Piute Canyon and French Canyon, in the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed by Sierra National Forest. It is set {{convert|2.5|mi}} south of Merriam Peak and three miles north of the Matthes Glaciers. Pilot Knob is the 360th-highest peak in California, and topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises {{convert|2,800|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above Hutchinson Meadow in approximately one mile. This mountain was likely named by the USGS during the 1907–09 survey for the Mt. Goddard Quadrangle,Peter Browning (1986), Place Names of the Sierra Nevada: From Abbot to Zumwalt, Wilderness Press, {{ISBN|9780899970479}}, p. 170 and the toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.