The range is mainly covered with relict warm temperate rainforest and contains several rare and/or endemic species, most notably the Nightcap oak and the Minyon quandong.

The summit can be reached by a bitumen road via Nimbin which cost £32,000 to construct in tandem with the first tower in 1962 (the tower itself costing only £10,000[11]) and is the starting point for several walking tracks including the Historic Nightcap walking track, which once was the principal route taken by travellers and postal workers between Lismore and Murwillumbah.

[12] The range contains the Nightcap National Park[13] and forms part of the catchment for Rocky Creek Dam which is located to the north of Lismore, and provides the drinking water supply for a large portion of the Northern Rivers area.

The range is the only known locality for the Nightcap oak, Eidothea hardeniana, a member of the Proteaceae, with a known population only around 100 wild plants, recognised and named in 2002.

[15] The range is also notable for containing the majority of known sites for the extremely restricted Minyon quandong, a medium sized tree in the Elaeocarpaceae, which had been recognised as a distinct species for some time but formally described only in 2008.