Mount Darwin is set in the Malte Brun Range of the Southern Alps and is situated in the Canterbury Region of South Island.

[2] The first ascent of the summit was made in March 1894 by Jack Clarke, Tom Fyfe, and Franz Von Kronecker.

[5] The mountain's toponym was applied by Julius von Haast to honour Charles Darwin (1809–1882), the famous British naturalist who visited New Zealand in 1835.

[7] Prevailing westerly winds blow moist air from the Tasman Sea onto the mountains, where the air is forced upward by the mountains (orographic lift), causing moisture to drop in the form of rain or snow.

The months of December through February offer the most favourable weather for viewing or climbing this peak.