Nature
Mount Sentinel rises above Missoula and the University of Montana, where donated and federally transferred land eventually gave the university ownership to the crest. Its most famous feature, the hillside “M,” evolved from a student-built rock letter in 1909 to the current concrete form completed in 1968, and it remains central to university traditions. The mountain also preserves visible shoreline marks from Glacial Lake Missoula, whose catastrophic floods reshaped the region between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago. Protected land purchases, popular trails, wildlife habitat, and restoration after repeated fires have made Mount Sentinel both a natural area and an enduring symbol of Missoula.
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Missoula, Montana · United States
