It is located on the slopes of Jebel Baruk mountain and has an area of 550 km2 (210 sq mi), nearly 5.3% of the Lebanese territory, making it the largest natural reserve in Lebanon.

Snowfall often occurs at the upper elevations but snow seldom persists more than a few days and disappears before the end of the rainy season.

A large proportion of the exposed surface rock in the Barouk region is cavernous, fissured and broken limestone, and its porous condition makes it very permeable.

This results in much of the precipitation infiltrating with minimum surface runoff despite the often-shallow soils and sparse vegetative cover.

Tohmé continued his field botanical studies at Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve during the last three years in order to obtain confirmation on the status of certain species.

The reserve is known for its official's efforts to save the cedar of Lebanon through continues management of the forests and planting new trees in previously logged and deforestated areas.

The only documented data of the mammals of Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve apparently appeared in the report of Tohmé, H. that was prepared, on behalf of the Protected Areas Project at the Ministry of Environment, in 1999 by the NCSR.

This report, which was based on inventory and surveys as well as brochures and other documents developed by the managing team of the reserve, produced a list of 32 mammals which include: wild boar (Sus scrofa), gray wolf (Canis lupus ), beech marten (Martes foina), mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), golden jackal (Canis aureus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), European badger (Meles meles), Cape hare (Lepus capensis), Caucasian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica), wild goat (Capra aegagrus), Syrian brown bear (Ursus arctos syriacus), Middle East blind mole-rat (Nannospalax ehrenbergi) Indian porcupine (Hystrix indica), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), wild cat (Felis silvestris), Cape hyrax (Procavia capensis).

The reserve launched a project to reintroduce the Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) to the area from Jordan, after it was extinct in the mid-twentieth century.

The reserve is also home to many species of birds of prey such as: griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), and the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

The cedars were important enough in the history of man to be traceable to the very earliest written records, that of the Sumerians in the third millennium BC.

In the ancient Sumerian story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world, the cedars feature prominently.

The following are some major landmarks: The cave castle of Tyron Niha relates to one of the closing episodes of Prince Fakhreddin II's epic history and are the only remaining vestiges of a once powerful fortress which was successively used by the Arabs, Crusaders, and a number of princes of Mount Lebanon.