[2] It is the northernmost and highest summit on its namesake ridge, the Black Divide in northern Kings Canyon National Park.

Topographic relief is significant as it rises 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above Le Conte Canyon in approximately two miles.

This mountain was bestowed its descriptive name in 1904 by Joseph Nisbet LeConte, a Sierra Nevada explorer and cartographer.

But time forbade an ascent this year, so I named it the Black Giant, and wondered how long it would stand as it has so far stood, an untrodden summit.

As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift).