[1] Although modest in elevation, relief is significant as the mountain rises up from tidewater in less than three miles, and it ranks 85th in prominence for all peaks in Alaska.

[2] The mountain was named by members of a 1941 Glacier Bay expedition for Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942), Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Biological Survey.

[3] Merriam was a zoologist for the 1899 Harriman Alaska expedition which explored Glacier Bay.

Weather permitting, Mount Merriam can be seen from Glacier Bay, which is a popular destination for cruise ships.

[4] Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Saint Elias Mountains (orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall.