[5] The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names,[1] and refers to bannock, which is a variety of flatbread or quick bread that early surveyors prepared over campfires.

[5] Bannock Mountain is located in the Cloudy Pass batholith, an intrusive formation that was formed approximately 20 million years ago, during the early miocene.

[5] As a result, valleys in the area are deep and u-shaped, and mountains tend to be rocky, with steep slopes and narrow summits.

As a result, the west side of the North Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall.

[5] Due to its temperate climate and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, areas west of the Cascade Crest very rarely experience temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) or above 80 °F (27 °C).