The park is located in the western Piedmont of North Carolina between the cities of Kings Mountain and Gastonia.

The monadnock is the remnant of a quartzite ridge which formed approximately 400–500 million years ago.

The softer material that once covered and surrounded the monadnock has been gradually worn down to its present height of 1,705 feet (520 meters) above sea level.

The Pinnacle is part of the Kings Mountain Belt, a string of monadnocks and rock types along the piedmont in the Carolinas, many of which can be seen from the summit.

The Pinnacle and nearby Crowders Mountain separated the historic hunting lands of the Cherokee and Catawba Indians.