Badger rises above the Tri-Cities connected to the smaller Candy Mountain via Goose Gap, is visible throughout much of the area and is a popular hiking destination for a wide variety of climbers.

[2] A non-profit group, Friends of Badger Mountain,[3] worked to procure this shrub-steppe area that has most native vegetation intact and then built a trail to the summit.

The Yakima Fold Belt is a portion of the larger Olympic–Wallowa Lineament, which extends from near Port Angeles, Washington into northeastern Oregon.

Sometime between 10 and 15 million years ago, multiple lava flows poured out from the Yellowstone hotspot, then located in western Idaho.

These lava flows covered large portions of Washington and Oregon on their way to the Pacific Ocean and are the cause of the underlying basalt of the region.

As these floods rushed toward the Pacific Ocean they carried glacial erratics, chunks of granite not typically found in eastern Washington.

The surface elevation of the flood water reached 1,250 feet (380 m) above sea level at Badger Mountain, making it into an island for a short time.

The Langdon Trail wraps around the south side of the mountain, offering views of Badger Canyon and the Horse Heaven Hills.