Triple Divide Peak, Mountain summit in Glacier National Park, Montana, United States
Triple Divide Peak rises to 8,025 feet (2,446 m) in the Lewis Range of Glacier National Park, Montana. Its summit is a small, dark, pointed cap of rock above horizontal bands of gray and brown rock, with a steep slope falling to the left marked by a pale tan scar. Dense dark green forest covers the lower half, broken by patches of lighter green and scattered reddish-brown trees.
The Lewis Range, including this peak, formed 59–75 million years ago when a slab of Precambrian rock slid over younger Cretaceous rocks in the Lewis Overthrust. The peak's shape results from several glaciers meeting during the ice age, which also gave Glacier National Park its name. Glacier National Park was established in 1910.
The name Triple Divide Peak comes from its three-way watershed, and the summit is the only single point on Earth where water flows into three distinct oceans. The peak lies on the main crest of the Rocky Mountains in Glacier National Park, near the Canadian border, and its shape results from several glaciers meeting during the Ice Age, the same glaciers that gave the national park its name.
Summer months offer the best conditions for hiking to this summit, as snow and ice melt away. Several trails within the park lead toward this peak, though the routes require good physical fitness and planning.
Triple Divide Peak is the only single point on Earth from which water flows into three distinct oceans, provided Hudson Bay is counted as part of the Arctic Ocean. Some sources treat the bay as Atlantic, which would instead make Snow Dome the sole hydrological apex.
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