A spur diverges from the north–south ridge of the Koralpe range, extending towards the east and featuring neighboring peaks such as Moserkogel (Moseralm), Glashüttenkogel, and Kumpfkogel.

[citation needed] The Weberkogel, also called "Wildbachalm", is part of the Koralpe ridge stretching westward from the Handalm.

The source of the Laßnitz River can be found north of the Handalm in vast forests that cover several square kilometers and are largely abandoned.

The Osterwitzbach rises on the north-eastern slope of the Weinebene, and it empties into the Laßnitz at Freiland bei Deutschlandsberg to the south of the Handalm, which provides a connection between western Styria and the Lavant Valley via the Weinebenstraße.

It is a significant site, as it marks the location where the former road connection between Weinebene and Osterwitz crossed the mountain range.

Specifically, the rock type found in the Handalm is referred to as "Plattengneis Typus Stainz: blastomylonitic, planar eye gneiss."

Unlike other mountains that formed, the individual peaks of the Koralpe, including the Handalm, were shaped by uneven weathering of specific rock areas.

[11] The Koralpe, including the Handalm, acquired its present-day form during the final stages of the Alps' mountain-formation process, which occurred approximately 20 million years ago.

Additionally, the Handalm is located at the northern end of a broad uplifted section of the Koralpen mountain block known as the "Wolfsberg anticline".

[16] The Handalm is distinguished by rock groups, known as furnaces, which emerge from the gently undulating alpine pasture floor.

These formations result from the uneven weathering of the Handalm's rock composition, which is primarily made up of stacked gneiss plates.

From there, the summit area of the Handalm can be reached by a partially steep hiking track in about 20–40 minutes, depending on the fitness level (approximately one kilometer and 200 meters in altitude).

[citation needed] At the center of the plateau amidst the rock groups on Handalm stood a steel mast, serving as a meteorological station from 2012 to 2016.

[23][24] The Handalm wind farm was added to the list of subsidized projects in December 2012 with a maximum amount of 11.3 million euros.

[26] After completion of the environmental impact assessment, which is currently the focus of an investigation into misuse of authority, in March 2016 the start of work on the wind farm was announced for summer 2016.

[27] The result was 13 wind turbines with a total capacity of 39 megawatts (MW), and the total amount of green electricity generated will be 76-gigawatt hours (GWh, million-kilowatt hours) per year, which is only (admittedly wind-dependent) about 6 GWh less than the amount of energy from the Mur power plant in Graz.

The works on the wind farm lasted two years, for which 150 individual conditions were foreseen for the protection of wild animals, birds, bats, and the surrounding alpine pastures and forests.