With its impressive height, Oval Peak can have snow on it in late-Spring and early-Fall, and can be very cold in the winter.

The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late Eocene Epoch.

[6] In addition, small fragments of the oceanic and continental lithosphere called terranes created the North Cascades about 50 million years ago.

[6] During the Pleistocene period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured the landscape leaving deposits of rock debris.

Uplift and faulting in combination with glaciation have been the dominant processes which have created the tall peaks and deep valleys of the North Cascades area.