Kitt Peak

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title: "Kitt Peak" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["landforms-of-pima-county,-arizona", "mountains-of-arizona", "religious-places-of-the-indigenous-peoples-of-north-america", "sacred-mountains-of-the-united-states", "sonoran-desert", "tohono-o'odham-nation", "mountains-of-pima-county,-arizona", "two-thousanders-of-the-united-states"] description: "Mountain in Arizona, United States" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitt_Peak" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain in Arizona, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
name	Kitt Peak
photo	KPNO.jpg
photo_caption	Telescopes on the top
elevation_ft	6886
elevation_ref
prominence_ft	2092
prominence_ref
range	Quinlan Mountains
location	Tohono O'odham Nation
Pima County, Arizona, U.S.
map	USA Arizona
map_size	180
map_caption	none
coordinates
coordinates_ref
topo	USGS Kitt Peak
easiest_route	Road
::

| name = Kitt Peak | photo = KPNO.jpg | photo_caption = Telescopes on the top | elevation_ft = 6886 | elevation_ref = | prominence_ft = 2092 | prominence_ref = | parent_peak = | range = Quinlan Mountains | location = Tohono O'odham Nation Pima County, Arizona, U.S. | map = USA Arizona | map_size = 180 | map_caption = none | label_position = | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | listing = | topo = USGS Kitt Peak | first_ascent = | easiest_route = Road

Kitt Peak () is a mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona, and at 6883 ft is the highest point in the Quinlan Mountains. 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.

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, which the nation's lore holds summer residence of its elder brother deity. The name Ioligam means "red stick" in reference to the abundance of manzanita bushes on and around the mountain.

References

References

1. {{cite ngs
2. {{cite peakbagger
3. {{cite summitpost
4. {{cite gnis
5. Waugh, John C.. (June 27, 1960). "Indians Yield Telescope Site". Christian Science Monitor.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::