The town is located at an altitude of 2,145 metres or 7,037 feet near the end of Tarangire National Park and the base of Lake Babati, nestling under Mount Kwaraha.

The story is told that the town's name resulted from misunderstanding a Gorowa boy by a German roadwork supervisor.

He pointed at an older man and said "Baba ti", meaning in his language "this is my father".

[3] It is claimed in the book Tanganyikan Guerilla: East African Campaign 1914-1918, that Napoleon's son, then a colonel in the British Cavalry, died and was interred in Babati.

The trans-African automobile route — the Cairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Babati.