[6] Stretching over an area of 27,500 ha (68,000 acres), the mountain range and its surroundings were declared as the 45th national park in Turkey on 26 September 2020.

[5] It features high mountain belts, plateaus, deep valleys, streams, waterfalls, glaciers, many large and small glacial lakes as well as many churches and rock paintings.

[2] The mountain range has a very steep topography due to abrasion, cracking and erosion caused by glacial activities and freezing-thawing effect.

It is known that the Lake Urmia newt (Neurergus crocatus), which is close to extinction worldwide, the wild goat (Capra aegagrus), the narrow-distributed Persian mol (Talpa davidiana), as well as eleven butterfly taxa, including four endemic species.

Bird species known to breed in the area include golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) and Caspian snowcock (Tetraogallus caspius).

[5][9] Although Cilo and Sat mountains are with the most landscape beauty, they can be used for nature sports only in a limited way due to security reasons.

[3][10] The 2,400 m (7,900 ft)-high Mergan Plateau, which is in the valley, where the Uludoruk glacier of the Cilo Mountains is located, is 37 km (23 mi) far from Hakkari.