It lies along the southeast side of Bald Eagle Creek and south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, and is the westernmost ridge in its section of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.

The Julian and Unionville Pikes are paved roads that cross the ridge near State College, along with U.S. Route 322 and Interstate 99 which pass through the now enlarged wind gap known at Skytop.

U.S. Route 15 crosses through a wind gap south of Williamsport near Bald Eagle Mountain's eastern end.

[7] The Bald Eagle sandstone is laced with pyrite veins, and when exposed to air and water, these minerals produce sulfuric acid, contaminating both surface runoff and groundwater.

Construction of Interstate 99 where it crosses Bald Eagle Mountain has been delayed since 2004 by complaints from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection about acidic runoff from pyritic rock excavated from this formation.

The planned I-99/I-80 interchange further north in the Nittany Valley at the foot of the ridge was redesigned to avoid excavating contaminated rock from the same formation.