The natural area, wholly contained within Camel's Hump State Park, straddles the ridge of the Green Mountains in Chittenden and Washington counties, in the towns of Duxbury, Huntington, Fayston, Bolton, and Buels Gore.

The natural area also supports an undisturbed subalpine boreal forest of balsam fir, red spruce, and heartleaf paper birch.

[3][4] Some of these are protected by the Vermont endangered and threatened species rule,[5] including Boott's rattlesnake-root (Nabalus boottii, generically known as white lettuce), bearberry willow (Salix uva-ursi), lesser wintergreen (Pyrola minor), alpine sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum monticola), and squashberry (Viburnum edule).

In 1911, Joseph Battell, a publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist from Middlebury, donated 1,147 acres (464 ha) of forest land surrounding Camel's Hump to the State of Vermont.

Approximately 80% of the parcel was designated as an Ecological Protection Zone intended to foster the conservation of wildlife, habitats, forestry values, public recreational opportunities, and scenic resources.