Kitt Peak

Kitt Peak
Telescopes on the top
Elevation	6,883 ft (2,098 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence	2,092 ft (638 m)[1]
Listing	List of mountains of the United States
Location
Kitt Peak Location of Kitt Peak in Arizona
Location	Tohono O'odham Nation, Pima County, Arizona, U.S.
Range	Quinlan Mountains
Coordinates	31°57′50″N 111°35′59″W / 31.9639671°N 111.5998359°W / 31.9639671; -111.5998359Coordinates: 31°57′50″N 111°35′59″W / 31.9639671°N 111.5998359°W / 31.9639671; -111.5998359[2]
Topo map	USGS Kitt Peak
Climbing
Easiest route	Road

Kitt Peak (O'odham: Ioligam) is a mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona, and at 6,883 feet (2,098 m) is the highest point in the Quinlan Mountains.^[3] It is the location of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The radio telescope at the Observatory is one of ten dishes comprising the Very Long Baseline Array radio telescope.

The peak was named in English by County Surveyor George J. Roskruge for his sister, Phillippa, who was the wife of William F. Kitt. On his 1893 Pima County Survey map, Roskruge spelled the name 'Kits'. At the request of the wife of George F. Kitt, the spelling was changed by decision in 1930.^[2]

Kitt Peak is the second-highest peak on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation, and as such is the second-most sacred after Baboquivari Peak. Near the summit is I'itoi's Garden, the summer residence of the nation's elder brother deity. The name Ioligam means "red stick" in reference to the abundance of manzanita bushes on and around the mountain.^[4]

References