Amenities

Toilet and picnic tables. Boat-in camping is possible and semi-popular. Boat-in access only.

History

During the last ice age about 15,000 years ago, the steep, rugged Green Monarchs played a key role in the formation of Lake Pend Oreille. The mountains served as a barrier to the Purcell Trench Ice Lobe. This glacial powerhouse originated in Canada and flowed south into Idaho, guided by the structural control of the Purcell Trench. Following the path of least resistance into the basin now occupied by Lake Pend Oreille, it was impeded by the Green Monarch Ridge. Grinding and scraping, the glacier backed up behind the Green Monarch Ridge, eventually building an ice plug up to 4,000 feet thick, and scouring out the deepest parts of Lake Pend Oreille.

The Green Monarchs are part of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, which are a subset of the larger Bitterroot Range of the Northern Rocky Mountains. The same geologic processes that produced the riches of the Coeur d’Alene mines piqued mining interest in the Green Monarchs. The mountains were named after the Green Monarch mine, which shipped copper ore during the early 1900s.