It is a northerly mountain range in the Madrean Sky Islands region of southeast Arizona, northern Sonora in northwestern Mexico, and the extreme southwest (the "bootheel") of New Mexico.

The Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness encompasses the north perimeter of the range, and the large Galiuro Wilderness covers the central-south.

The moderately wide San Pedro Valley and River border its southwest, abutting the northeast of the large sky island Santa Catalina Mountains range.

Mammoth, Arizona, northeast of Tucson and San Manuel, are the closest communities to the range on its northwest.

The highest peak of the range is Bassett Peak (Western Apache: Dził Nazaayú´- "Mountain That Sits Here and There") at 7,663 feet (2,336 m).