The northern point of the range is Mount Coree, situated 34 kilometres (21 mi) west-northwest of Canberra.

From this point the range heads generally south, towards the eastern watershed of the Murrumbidgee River, in a line that marks the western edge of the ACT border with NSW.

The most southern point of the range is at Bimberi Gap on the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales border.

The typical characteristics of the range include low-relief high plains with steep margins and slopes and fault aligned river valleys with deep gorges and waterfalls.

In the sub-alpine snow gum areas deep gradational soils with moderate amounts of organic matter are common.

The traditional custodians of the area now known as the Brindabella Range are the Ngunnawal, Walgalu and Djimantan, all Aboriginal Australian peoples.

The Brindabella Valley, located in New South Wales to the west of the range, was first settled by Europeans as a stock outstation for the Yarralumla station in the 1830s, with the first land grant made in 1849.

[12] The valley is now an agricultural area and consists of a number of small cattle farms including the heritage-listed Brindabella Station, the childhood home of Miles Franklin, an early 20th-century Australian author.

A development plan was drafted following the 2003 bushfires which would see three 600 metres (2,000 ft) chairlifts installed together with snowmaking facilities and accommodation at this site.