The prominent 14,254.1-foot (4,345 m) fourteener is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, 10.6 miles (17.1 km) north by east (bearing 12°) of the Town of Rico in Dolores County, Colorado, United States.

Some permanent snowfields exist high in the basin (sometimes termed "Navajo Glacier") and the climb usually involves snow travel, with ice axe and crampons recommended.

A popular, though long, outing for expert climbers is the mile-long ridge connecting Mount Wilson to El Diente Peak.

[9][10] Mount Wilson, and the rest of the San Miguel Mountains, are made up of a large, irregular tertiary igneous intrusion.

[13] During the Pleistocene glaciers were much more extensive than today, covering the whole summit plateau[14] In glaciations previous to the Wisconsinian, it is generally thought that summit ice caps were even more extensive and joined to form the "San Miguel Glacier" with icecaps in the San Juan Mountains.