Cardinal Mountain is a 13,396-foot summit on the crest of the Sierra Nevada in northern California, on the boundary between Fresno and Inyo counties and between John Muir Wilderness and Kings Canyon National Park. Ranked the 73rd highest summit in California, it was named by USGS topographer George R. Davis for the brilliant red color of a roof pendant that suggested a cardinal’s cap. The first recorded ascent came on August 11, 1922, by George Downing Jr. The peak also forms a drainage divide, with western runoff flowing toward the South Fork Kings River and eastern waters descending toward Owens Valley through Red Mountain and Taboose creeks.