The Great Guide

Proposal: First day walk around the Big Pinnacle on the Pilot Knob Trail and on another day take the Ledge Spring Trail. End the day with a view of the pyramid shadow from the Little Pinnacle that is getting close to the winter solstice extreme. The pyramid shadow will stand still for a few days and then return to the spring equinox position that can only be seen on the far side of the Big Pinnacle facing east.

Field of quartzite slabs a long way from the Big Pinnacle of the mountain near the campground. Hoping an expert will look around in this easily accessed area on Pilot Mountain for petroglyph!

This is during the 18.61 year Lunar Standstill and the moon set between the Little and Big Pinnacle at sunrise on the 2022 equinox. Director Ed Krupp of the Griffith Observatory has been streaming something like this from Chimney Rock in Colorado the past few months. Randall Carlson said I should contact the park rangers there and they told me to contact Krupp.

Honestly, I think Pilot Mountain has a better layout for the Lunar Standstill but it is clear across the country from the Griffith Observatory in L..A.

Griffith Observatory

The Ledge Spring Trail starts on the west end of the saddle area between the two pinnacles. There are large stone faces, a possible quarry (image below), many flat surfaces for markings and there is a natural spring the seems to flow year round.

Is the image above a possible quarry or the result of the many earthquakes that happened in the area from the New Madrid and Charleston fault earthquakes felt strongly in the area by the Moravians in their daily journals. Sometimes they documented earthquakes broke windows and opened doors.

Looking west on the Ledge Spring Trail just under the upper parking lot.

Moai style stone face on the Ledge Spring Trail with a top knot and a square notch that Dr. Robert Schoch found intriguing.

Looking east on the Ledge Spring Trail is not as impressive.

Note the tree coming out of the top knot and the nearly perfect square where it attaches to the mountain.

Looking up at the Moai style stone face.

Entrance to the Ledge Spring Trail which is located just below the Little Pinnacle.

This spot fascinates me and might be associated with the setting of the sun and moon.

Above image is for scale and below is the stone face, but I think this is natural. This is also on the Ledge Spring Trail that is like walking up a ten story building ten times.

Cherokee chief? Impressive even if this is an example of pareidolia! The Cherokee believe these stone faces are alive and you can communicate with them. Some heard the mountain sing in front of 16 hikers on the June 24, 2025 excursions with Stefan Burns and Scott Wolter.

This means that Pilot Mountain State Park has “rules” from the NC Park Service, the NC Division of Natural and Cultural Resources, the National Park Service and the United States Department of the Interior.

Carin for a giant? The Cherokee said before they moved here this was the “land of the giants.”

Is this a dolman on the Pilot Knob Trail where vision quests could have happened for twelve year old boys with a shaman nearby?

Is that “Sandy” (Tennessee’s State Artifact) in the canoe going toward the white pyramid? When they had the airfield on top of Pilot Mountain it had a white shade to it. These images were taken near sunset on the equinox.