King Peak rises in the Ruby Mountains of northeastern Nevada, about twenty-nine miles southeast of Elko, within Humboldt National Forest and the Ruby Mountains Wilderness. Flanked by Rattlesnake Canyon on the west and Overland Creek Canyon on the east, it is the southernmost summit in the range above 11,000 feet. The Ruby Crest National Recreation Trail passes just east of the mountain on a prominent high-country route. The peak honors Clarence King, who explored the region in 1869 during the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel and later became the first chief of the United States Geological Survey, linking the mountain to the systematic mapping of the Great Basin.