| Hilliard Peak | |
| Elevation Ft: | 13422 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence Ft: | 311 |
| Isolation Mi: | 0.65 |
| Parent Peak: | Keefe Peak (13,532 ft) |
| Etymology: | Edward Hobbs Hilliard, Jr. |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Colorado |
| Region: | Pitkin County |
| Region Type: | County |
| Part Type: | Protected area |
| Part: | Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness |
| Range: | Rocky Mountains Elk Mountains[2] |
| Map: | Colorado#USA |
| Coordinates: | 39.0242°N -106.9097°W |
| Coordinates Ref: | [3] |
| Topo: | USGS Maroon Bells |
Hilliard Peak is a 13422feet mountain summit in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.
Hilliard Peak is located 17miles west of the Continental Divide in the Elk Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. It ranks as the 306th-highest peak in Colorado.[1] The mountain is situated 12miles south-southwest of the community of Aspen and 2.8miles west-northwest of Castle Peak. The peak is set in the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness on land managed by White River National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of the Roaring Fork River which is a tributary of the Colorado River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2800feet above Conundrum Creek in 1.3miles and 2400feet above East Maroon Creek in 1.2miles.
The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on December 9, 1975, by the United States Board on Geographic Names to commemorate Edward H. Hilliard, Jr. (1922–1970), conservationist and environmentalist.[3] He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 16, 1922. He served as an Infantry Lieutenant in France during World War II, then completed his college education at Yale University in 1948, then moved to Colorado in 1949.[4] Hilliard died on August 15, 1970, when he and a climbing companion were killed by a rockfall near the summit of North Maroon Peak.[5]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Hilliard Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.[6] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.