Goats Rocks volcano is located in southern Washington, 113 km (70 mi) west of Yakima,[2] at latitude 46.50° N and longitude 121.45° W.[3] This region of the Cascades was originally occupied by Native Americans, who hunted and fished in its vicinity and used its trails as trade routes.

[5] Situated in the eastern portion of the Cascade Range, Goat Rocks lies at the northwest corner of the Klickitat River basin.

[8] Goat Rocks and its immediate vicinity are underlain by pre-Tertiary greywacke and argillite, and these deposits are cut by several prominent northward-trending faults.

In turn, the Stevens Ridge Formation overlies the Ohanapecosh layer, featuring quartz-bearing silicic tuff, rhyolite, and other volcaniclastic rocks.

This may be related to a mid-crust zone with abnormally high electrical conductivity, the Southern Washington Cascades Conductor (SWCC), which is not well understood by geologists.

Scientists from the United States Geodynamics Committee hypothesized in 1994 that this anomaly is associated with the thrust of a large deposit of sedimentary rock against a continental margin.

[14] The remains of its lava flows can be found in the Tieton, Klickitat, and Cispus river valleys, their elevation reversed by erosion to make them resemble ridges.

[14] The Goat Rocks area is notable for its extensive glaciers, despite its modest elevation and southerly location relative to the rest of the Washington Cascades.

[22] The elevation of the Goat Rocks volcano and its immediate vicinity varies from 914 to 2,500 m (2,999 to 8,202 ft) at its highest point, Gilbert Peak.

It first became active approximately 3.2 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch, undergoing explosive eruptions[18] that ejected silicic lava with highly felsic rocks like rhyolite.

As eruptions continued into the Pleistocene epoch, the lava flows became increasingly andesitic, containing mostly pyroxene with phenocrysts as well as hornblende minerals.

These andesitic flows formed the volcano's major edifice between roughly 2.5 and 0.5 million years ago,[3] which may have resembled contemporary Mount Rainier.

As erosion occurred on a large scale, the volcano remained active, producing more hornblende andesite lava flows.

[35] Land surrounding Goat Rocks was first protected by the United States Department of Agriculture in February 1931, when approximately 18,009 hectares (44,501 acres) was set aside for preservation.

[36] The wilderness ranges from 914 to 2,500 m (2,999 to 8,202 ft) in elevation, featuring alpine tundras with glaciers, small lakes, and ponds, as well as 15 different routes that amount to 193 km (120 mi) of trails.

This cooling air cannot hold as much moisture, causing heavy precipitation (up to 381 cm (150 in) in rainfall annually) on the western flanks of the mountains,[40] which leads to extensive forestation.

In extreme conditions, these storm cells might endanger hikers by means of strong winds, fog, snow, and rain that can potentially make hiking nearly impossible.

On the eastern sides of the mountains, air warms as it drops, producing Chinook winds, considerably lower precipitation, and less forested landscapes.

Because the routes are longer and more technically challenging due to loose rock, scrambling Gilbert is generally considered more difficult than Old Snowy Mountain.

[1] Because Goat Rocks is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, motor vehicles and means of transport are prohibited.

[48] It is distinct from the other two study areas, featuring anomalous amounts of barium, cobalt, copper, and manganese, as well as smaller quantities of lead, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc.

Outside the area studied, coal has been identified at the Packwood and Cowlitz fields, and building stones and gravel are being quarried to the north and west of the volcano.