It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Munich and Rosenheim, and by the Austrian state of Tyrol.

[citation needed] The Miesbach district today is the union of the areas that were formerly occupied by the Hohenwaldeck county, the territories owned by the powerful Tegernsee Abbey, the territories owned by the Weyarn Abbey and Valley County.

Miesbach was established in 1803: the foundation ceremony took place in the court district of Hohenwaldeck.

During the territorial reform in Bavaria in 1972 Otterfing was merged into Miesbach too and the district Wolfratshausen as well.

The most important peaks are Rotwand ("Red Wall", 1,884 m), the highest mountain in the area, and Wendelstein (1,838 m) .