The site covers an area of 302.9 ha on Honister Crag, from which it takes its name, and Fleetwith Pike, an adjacent fell.

The site is important for its plants and provides one of the best examples of species-rich upland ledge communities in West Cumbria.

The mine had been redeveloped by a local businessman as a tourist attraction, and the facilities included an unapproved extension to an existing via ferrata and a zip wire.

[2] Since 2005 the SSSI has been protected under the Habitats Directive (European Union legislation) as part of the multi-site Special Area of Conservation known as Lake District High Fells.

The SSSI is within the Lake District National Park, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 2017 as a cultural landscape.