The mountain is set within Jasper National Park, in the Trident Range of the Canadian Rockies.

Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,400 meters (4,593 feet) above Meadow Creek in three kilometers (1.9 mile).

The mountain was named in 1916 by Morrison P. Bridgland, and the words "Roche Noire" are French, meaning "black rock", referring to the color of the summit.

[5][6] Bridgland (1878–1948), was a Dominion Land Surveyor who named many peaks in Jasper Park and the Canadian Rockies.

[7] The mountain's toponym was officially adopted February 7, 1951, by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.