Wilkins Peak is a small mountain located in

Sweetwater County, Wyoming Sweetwater County is a County (United States), county in southwestern Wyoming, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 42,272, making it the List of counties in Wyoming, fourth-most populous county in Wyoming. Its ...

, between the cities of Green River and Rock Springs. It is primarily used for

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

station transmitters, but it also serves radio needs of the FAA,

EMS Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

, and local businesses such as Questar Gas. In 2003, a tower on the peak was knocked down by a vehicle delivering propane to customers. The tower was owned by

Wyoming Public Radio Wyoming Public Radio (WPR) is the statewide public radio network in Wyoming, and is licensed to the University of Wyoming. Programming and operation Although licensed to the university, the network does not produce student-derived programming. ...

and served the local area with programming from

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. There are numerous access roads to the peak. It is not gated and is open year-round, weather permitting. Along with radio, the mountain is also a popular location for

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

. The mountain's geology is typical for its location in southwestern Wyoming.

Geology

Along with other mountains in southwestern Wyoming, Wilkins Peak is part of the

Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sedimen ...

, a formation of the

intermontane Intermontane is a physiographic adjective formed from the prefix " inter-" (''signifying among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal'') and the adjective "montane" (inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions, especially cool, mo ...

Lake Gosiute environment during the

Eocene epoch The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''Ēṓs'', 'Dawn') and ...

. Similar to its neighboring Aspen Mountain, Wilkins Peak is part of the Rock Springs Uplift, and some of the largest

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

and

trona Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3·NaHCO3·2H2O) is a non- marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced ...

beds in the region are located near the mountain. Wilkins Peak also has its own distinct segment of the Green River Formation, which is known as the '' Wilkins Peak Member''. The peak itself is in elevation and is located from

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,526 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth most populous city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

and from

Green River, Wyoming Green River is a city in and the county seat of Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 11,825 at the 2020 census. It is the 7th most populous city in Wyoming. History The townsi ...

Radio and television uses

Wilkins Peak holds radio towers for several FM

and

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s. Stations include KYCS (95.1 FM) and its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

s KFRZ (92.1 FM) and KZWB (97.9 FM). Also on the mountain is the tower for the station KTME 89.5, which signed on the air in September 2010. KTME is an affiliate of

Pilgrim Radio Pilgrim Radio is a network of radio stations broadcasting a Christian radio format. Pilgrim Radio's programming includes interviews with Christian leaders, discussion of current events/issues, news, a book-reading program, and teaching messages ...

. The transmitter for KREO 93.5 is also on the peak. KLWR 101.9 FM, and

KAWR Al kawr is a village in south-western Yemen. It is located in the Abyan Governorate Abyan ( ) is a governorates of Yemen, governorate of Yemen. The Abyan region was historically part of the Fadhli Sultanate. It was a base to the Aden-Abyan ...

98.7 are also on Wilkins Peak, and carry programming from

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

and

Air1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History On July 15, ...

respectively. Several television translators transmit or have transmitted their signals from two small towers located in the center of Wilkins Peak. The religious television network TBN had a translator known as K35CN, broadcasting from the mountain. Prior to 2009, K22BK, the local

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television translator, carried its signal from Wilkins Peak. K22BK was moved across the interstate to White Mountain to the same tower as its digital counterpart (K28JU-D). In late 2009, a new television station signed on the air from the peak. It was known as K33IX-D on channel 33 (UHF) and carried programming from IBN Television. The station is currently off air. K35CN and K22BK have been off the air since the

digital television transition The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is con ...

in the year 2009.

FM translators

Among high-powered FM radio stations, Wilkins Peak is also currently host lower-powered FM translators. K205FE carries a

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

format on 88.9 FM. K232CU rebroadcasts KLWR on 94.3 FM, and K285FG retransmits programming from

AM station AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

KUGR on 104.9 FM.

Other radio related uses

Wilkins Peak also has

repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Some ...

towers for local

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

, and

services. The emergency radio repeaters on the mountain are used in conjunction with other repeaters located on nearby Aspen Mountain and Mansface Hill. In September 2003, a commercial truck delivering

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

to customers on the peak knocked down the then-existent KUWZ tower after the vehicle's brakes failed. The collapse of the tower knocked out power to the mountain for several hours, and while KUWZ borrowed space from neighboring towers for several months thereafter, the station ultimately relocated its transmitter to nearby Aspen Mountain.

Accessing the peak

Wilkins Peak is not gated, and it can be reached via an unpaved road known as ''Wilkins Peak Road'' that starts on

U.S. Route 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a north–south highway in the Western United States and a spur of parent route U.S. Route 91 that has two segments. The southern segment runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part o ...

southwest of

. The mountain can also be accessed via another unpaved road that begins in the Scott's Bottom Nature Area in

. The peak is accessible year-round, weather permitting. The Green River access road is in worse shape than the Rock Springs side, and it has several road hazards such as steep grades, poor grading, and off-road vehicle traffic. Along with serving radio needs, the peak also is a popular

and

location in the area. There are many smaller roads and trails that spring from the peak that offer varied degrees of challenge.

Trail system

The Sweetwater Mountain Bike Association, in partnership with the BLM, U.S. Forest Service and Rock Springs Grazing Association has sanctioned the mountain biking trail system known as the Wilkins Peak Trail System, currently a group of single track trails encompassing just over 24 miles located on land directly west of Wilkins Peak. Accessed primarily from the Green River area these trails offer a mix of varying difficulty levels for every rider. Current trail maps can be obtained for free at the Green River Chamber of Commerce at the Visitor Center.

References

External links

- Wilkins Peak Radio Tower Information and Pictures * http://grchamber.com/pages/MountainBikingInformation/ Image:KYCStwr.jpg, The tower for KYCS 95.1 FM, Rock Springs, Wyoming Image:WilkinsPeakNW.jpg, Wilkins Peak as seen in 2002, prior to the KUWZ tower (farthest left) collapse Image:WilkinsTV KFRZ.jpg, The towers for KFRZ/ KZWB (farthest right) and the TV stations, including K35CN (center). Image:Wilkinspeak08.jpg, The peak as seen from the east, in March 2008 Image:WhitemountainWY.jpg, White Mountain from Wilkins Peak, looking north. Pilot Butte (left center) is on top of White Mountain. {{good article Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Sweetwater County, Wyoming