Gilpin Peak is a 13,700-foot mountain in Colorado’s Sneffels Range, within the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre National Forest near Telluride. Rising on the drainage divide between Ouray and San Miguel counties, it is one of the state’s “thirteeners,” meaning peaks above 13,000 feet. Its elevation creates an alpine subarctic climate marked by long snowy winters, cool to warm summers, year-round precipitation, winter snow, and summer thunderstorms. Runoff from the mountain feeds tributaries of both the San Miguel and Uncompahgre rivers. Named for William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado, it remains a protected and rugged high-country landscape.