The name is derived from a species of porous and soft wood called "yesca" (English: tinder), which is found in the area.
[1] Located at the southern end of the Sierra Madre Occidental, it is mostly mountainous terrain.
It is bordered to the southwest by the municipalities of Santa María del Oro, Jala and Ixtlán del Río, to the northwest by the municipality of El Nayar, and to the north, east and south by the state of Jalisco.
La Yesca has vast forest and mineral resources, as well as pastures for extensive cattle raising.
La Yesca had the second largest indigenous population in the state after El Nayar.