It is the highest and easternmost of the Issaquah Alps (although Cedar Butte in the gap between Rattlesnake Mountain and the Cascade front at Mount Washington is considered by Harvey Manning to be a quasi-Alp).

[3][4] Most of the mountain is owned by the state of Washington or King County, and is protected as Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area, managed jointly by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and King County Park and Recreation Department.

The King County Medical Examiner said February 11 that Clodfelter died from a gunshot wound to the head, and ruled it a suicide.

When rescue personnel arrived, a friend of the victim told them she and the man had hiked to the top of the ridge.

As a result, the west side of the North Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall.