Gardner Point is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

in Flathead County,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Description

Gardner Point is located in the northwest corner of Glacier National Park. It is set in the

Livingston Range The Livingston Range is a mountain range located primarily in Glacier National Park (U.S.), Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana, and in the extreme southeastern section of the Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The rang ...

, west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

and 1.5 mile (2.4 km) south of the Canada–United States border. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into Kintla Creek which is a tributary of the North Fork Flathead River.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises over above the eastern end of Upper Kintla Lake in 0.6 mile (1 km). Access to the mountain is via the Boulder Pass Trail which traverses the west slope of the peak. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted on March 6, 1929, by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Gardner Point is located in a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. Winter temperatures can drop below −10 °F with wind chill factors below −30 °F.

Geology

Like other mountains in Glacier National Park, Gardner Point is composed of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

laid down during the

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

periods. Formed in shallow seas, this sedimentary rock was initially uplifted beginning 170 million years ago when the Lewis Overthrust fault pushed an enormous slab of precambrian rocks thick, wide and long over younger rock of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period.

Etymology

George Clinton Gardner (1834–1904) was a surveyor with the International Boundary Survey Commission which surveyed this area."Early Impressions: Euro-American Explorations and Surveys"
National Park Service Other nearby landforms near the border in Glacier Park that are also named after members of this boundary survey crew include Mount Custer (Henry Custer), Campbell Mountain (Archibald Campbell), Kinnerly Peak ( Caleb B. R. Kennerly), Parke Peak (

John Parke John Grubb Parke (September 22, 1827 – December 16, 1900) was a United States Army engineer and a Union general in the American Civil War. Parke's Civil War service was closely associated with Ambrose E. Burnside, often serving him as c ...

), Mount Peabody (R. V. Peabody), Herbst Glacier (Francis Herbst), and Harris Glacier ( Joseph Smith Harris).

References

External links

* National Park Service web site
Glacier National Park
* Gardner Point
weather forecast
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Gardner Point , North =

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...