The western Kakanui Range is crossed by road at Danseys Pass, which has a saddle at 935 m (3,068 ft).

[2] The southwestern slopes of the Kakanui Range were a major goldfield during the Otago gold rush of the 1860s.

The Kakanui Range is composed of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks of the Rakaia Terrane.

[3]: 330 [5] Except where exposed by stream erosion or road cuttings there is no surface evidence of the rhyolitic deposits from what must have been a surface eruption at about 112 million years ago that extends this distance of 50 km (31 mi)[6] and was subsequently covered by ocean sediments.

[7] The highest point in the Kakanui Range is Mount Pisgah, at 1,643 metres (5,390 ft).