Altitudes in the municipality extend from 250m above sea level in the valley of the Schwarze Ahe up to the highest elevation, the 663.3 metres (2,176 ft) high Nordhelle.

The municipality covers an area of 58.924 square kilometres (22.751 sq mi), of which 58% is forest and 33% is used agriculturally.

The first written document mentioning Hertsceido dates from 1072 in a charter from Grafschaft Abbey of Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne.

The coat of arms of Herscheid is above a fess abased chequy of three rows gules and argent, a demi-stag salient proper.

The stag, or deer, (German Hirsch) has a double significance: it refers both to the etymological origin of the name Herscheid as area where deer live and also to the old hunting privileges formerly enjoyed here (said to have been given by one of the Counts of the Mark as reward for help in fighting in the Ebbe mountains against the episcopal state of Cologne).