It sits on the western flank of Signal Hill, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the northeast of the city centre, overlooking North East Valley and the Dunedin Botanic Gardens.

This stream runs south along the western flank of Signal Hill, past Logan Park High School in Dunedin North, before being diverted through culverts and flowing into the Water of Leith close to it outflow into the Otago Harbour.

Ōpoho is a Māori word, simply meaning "The place of Poho",[4] Poho being an 18th-century Ngāti Wairua chief who lived close to the stream's outflow,[5] which at that time was into Pelichet Bay (the bay has since been reclaimed and is now part of Logan Park).

The area was at first administered by the Signal Hill Roads Board, which became part of the new North East Valley municipality in 1877.

Other landmarks of note include the Northern Cemetery, which occupies a low spur of Signal Hill on Lovelock Avenue, next to the Botanic Gardens and above Logan Park.

Larnach's Gothic mausoleum is the most prominent structure in the cemetery, which commands impressive views across central Dunedin.

Established as a theological hall in 1907, Knox is still a centre of the University of Otago's religious studies courses.

The suburb also contains the Dunedin branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Tannock Glen, a public gardens which is notable for its rhododendrons.

[9] Noted Ōpoho residents have included artist Arthur Merric Boyd, athlete Jack Lovelock, Dorothea Horsman, Lloyd Geering, celebrity chef Alison Holst, opera singer Patricia Payne and former All Black Kees Meeuws.

Ōpoho is one of Dunedin's more prestigious residential suburbs however still has somewhat mixed demographics, containing student flats, significant numbers of elderly citizens, and the houses of many in the academic community.