A Pyramid/Sphinx Hidden in Plain Sight

Is Pilot Mountain in Surry County, North Carolina just simply naturally shaped like a pyramid and the sphinx? What does it mean since this was a symbolic shape in prehistoric times that was often man-made? The archeology papers of Surry County are all restricted access (tDAR.org) so it is really not possible to know what is currently known about the mountain from an academic perspective. That information is only released on a need to know basis and it is redacted when released to the public. There does seem to be a huge borrow area (like the Hopewell and Newark earthworks) behind the new Pilot Mountain State Park Visitor Center. That could also be the result of construction of I-52 on the other side of the borrow area. With the current level of interest in Pilot Mountain maybe in the near future someone will dig down about a foot in the soil with a research permit. Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill have prestigious archeology departments that could do studies on the mountain with minimal travel expenses. They could then determine if there is any evidence of man-made aspects on the huge pyramid shaped quartzite mountain also shaped like the sphinx!

The pyramid view is only seen on the east-west access out on country roads that mainly just the locals in Pinnacle, North Carolina see each day.

What proof would we need that it is a pyramid shape? Maybe a pyramid shadow? Or a respected university professor publishing that it looks like “an almost perfect pyramid” in a prestigious journal almost eighty years ago?

Traveling on I-52 the pyramid aspect of Pilot Mountain in Surry County, North Carolina is hidden in modern times. However, that same path south on I-52 is the best way to view the sphinx aspect of Pilot Mountain just before sunset on a sunny day. Curiously, the spine of Pilot Mountain to the west of the Little Pinnacle is roughly at a 24 degree slope that will be a topic the next time I speak with Randall Carlson.

Pyramid aspect was widely known in the 1800s. Even if you couldn’t read you could see the boxwood engraving in the newspaper depicting the pyramid view. The image (left) was first published in 1836 in a newspaper and later in a textbook in 1858.

This is how the pyramid shadow starts about ninety minutes before sunset. This image catches the pyramid shadow crossing the Pilot Mountain State Park visitor center parking lot. It is moving slowly toward the nearby RV Park and you can see the Sauratown Mountains in the background.

Yes, it certainly is an almost perfect pyramid shadow on the equinox in March and September. The Big Pinnacle acts like a pointer to the east.

The best place to see the American Sphinx in North Carolina is driving south from Mt. Airy on I-52 just before sunset when the shadows really set it off for the viewer. This shot is the best I have so far, but is from Black Mountain Road so not the best way to view it. This account is like so many accounts of Pilot Mountain and written just after the summer solstice about the American Sphinx below.