[3] The park's landscape includes south Vaca Plateau and eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains.

The park is located on a layer of limestone strata,[3] the largest area of protected karst in Belize.

The Chiquibul River flows through Belize, goes underground into the cave system, and resurfaces in Guatemala.

[5] Species found in the park include keel-billed motmots, kinkajous, jaguars, jaguarundis, king vultures, margays, ocelots, ocellated turkeys, Yucatan spider monkeys, and Baird's tapirs.

In 1993, a botanist from Missouri Botanical Garden collected more than 130 plant species previously unreported in Belize.