They are limited on the west by the upper North Thompson River and the Interior Plateau.

The southern extremity of the range is in Washington State, where the Kettle River Range reaches the confluence of the Kettle River and the Columbia, and reaches west to the southern extremity of the Okanagan Highland (spelled Okanogan Highland in the US) just northeast of the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia rivers at Brewster and Bridgeport, Washington.

Within this area, the small Sawtooth Range lies between the uppermost Shuswap River to the east and Mabel Lake to the west.

The southern end of the Monashees within Canada is an historically important mining and former industrial area known as the Boundary Country, which is focused around the basin of the lower Kettle River and extends north toward the Midway Range.

[2] The Sherman Pass Scenic Byway runs 40 miles (64 km) east from the town of Republic, Washington across the center of the Kettle River Range and reaches its highest point at Sherman Pass, 5,575 feet (1,699 m), the highest mountain pass open all year in Washington state.