Diamond Peak

Diamond Peak is a 9,665-foot mountain in northwestern Colorado’s Green River Basin, in Moffat County, about 51 miles northwest by west of Maybell. Its chief historical importance comes from the Diamond hoax of 1872, a notorious fraud in which valuable stones were planted there to create the illusion of a rich gem deposit. Geologist and surveyor Clarence King exposed the scheme. Although the mountain is not especially high by Colorado standards, that episode gave it a distinct place in the state’s history. It is also one of three Colorado mountains named Diamond Peak, the others located in Routt County and Jackson County.

Colorado · United States