To the north is the UAE city of Al Ain,[9] in the Eastern Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the adjacent Omani town of Al-Buraimi.

[11] As of 2017, the mountain is recognised as being part of a national park, and was incorporated into the Sheikh Zayed Network of Protected Areas in 2018.

The mountain consists of shallow marine sedimentary rocks, which includes limestone, marl, and evaporites.

This indicates that the Jabal Hafit anticline formed due to a backthrust (antithetic fault), and is a fault-propagation fold.

[27][28] The mountain has ridges which stretch northwards to the inner part of Al-Ain City, two of which have been named and given prominence in literature.

[35] The road scales the mountain and ends at a parking lot with a hotel and a palace belonging to the country's rulers.

The Jabal Hafeet Mercure Challenge is an annual road cycling competition taking place in January.

[37] In 2015 it hosted the arrival of the third stage of first edition of Abu Dhabi Tour, won by Colombian Esteban Chaves.

[8] Its aim was to preserve and restore the fauna, flora, natural environment, and geology of the place, but at the same time, to attract tourists so that they can learn about the area.

[44] The caves of Jebel Hafeet are a natural habitat for a wide range of animals,[4][5] including bats, foxes, snakes, rodents, and hyraxes.

Later excavations by Danish archaeologists in 1959 found evidence for ceramic vessels and copper artifacts in these tombs.

While the graves on the north side have been partially destroyed by construction projects, the southern tombs are preserved.

Other objects found in the tombs include ceramics from Mesopotamia, and other artifacts from ancient Iran and the Indus Valley of present-day India and Pakistan,[9] to trading relationships in antiquity.

Because of its exceptional archaeological and historical value, in 1993, the "Desert Park and the tombs" (which includes the Jebel Hafeet) was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as the "Cultural Sites of Al Ain: Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas".

The touristic attraction at the foot of the mountain is Green Mubazzarah[23] (Arabic: ٱلْمُبَزَّرَة ٱلْخَضْرَاء, romanized: Al-Mubazzarah Al-Khaḍrāʿ),[52][53] a well-developed tourist attraction featuring a geyser, a children's play park and a number of chalets for hire, several hot-water springs gushing forth in little streams and forming a lake, and swimming pools and Jacuzzis scattered all over the area.

[24] There is also a small dam, constructed in 1955 and restored in 2005, one of the earliest development projects instituted by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the governor of Al-Ain before becoming the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE.

[54] On top of the mountain, there is a military communications outpost and a hotel operated by French hospitality company Mercure,[55] as well as a palace.