Located between Banff and Lake Louise on the Trans-Canada Highway. It is located at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 93. Highest point is just 1 km SW of Stuart Knob. Castle Mountain is one of the most prominent landmarks as one travels up the Bow Valley on the Trans Canada highway from Banff to Lake Louise. It is essentially a ridge between the Bow Valley on the south and Silverton Creek on the north. At the south end of the ridge overlooking the old #1 highway is "Eisenhower Peak". Castle Mountain is often used by geologists as a classic example of the Middle Cambrian sandwich. The "sandwich" consists of two cliffs, with a ledge in between. The upper cliff is Eldon limestone, the ledge is Stephen shale, and the lower cliff is Cathedral dolomite. This is one of the two geological "sandwiches" in the Rockies, the other is the limestone-shale-limestone which can be viewed at Mount Rundle.
Name Notes: Castle Mountain was originally named by James Hector in 1858 because of its remarkable appearance as a castle, complete with towers and its reddish appearance. In 1946, Mackenzie King, then Prime Minister, renamed the mountain to "Mount Eisenhower" the day before the American General Dwight Eisenhower was to visit Ottawa. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during the final year of World War II and was in charge of storming Fortress Europe. Although Eisenhower was well respected by Canadians, the decision to rename the mountain enraged Albertans, who then formed their own Geographic Names Board. For the next 33 years, Alberta mountaineers campaigned and circulated petitions. The original name was finally restored when Joe Clark, an Albertan, became Prime Minister. As a compromise, the prominent tower at the south end of the ridge GR (742835) was named Eisenhower Peak.
