Pigeon Peak is a 13,978-foot mountain in the Needle Mountains of southwestern Colorado, within the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest. Although just below the fourteen-thousand-foot threshold, it ranks as Colorado’s 57th highest independent peak and stands out for its dramatic vertical rise. Above the Animas River, it climbs nearly 6,000 feet in less than 2.5 miles, and its east face includes an 800-foot cliff. Less crowded than nearby fourteeners, it attracts climbers seeking a remote high summit, typically by a long approach with class 3 scrambling from near Ruby Lake to the saddle with Turret Peak and up the northwest slopes.