The range comprises two distinct groups of mountains, separated by a low line of hills at Flower Pass.

The southern section of the range, bending slightly to the southwest, essentially merges with Spruce Mountain, and is the location of the South Pequop Wilderness Study Area.

These mountains are a serious obstacle to travel between the more level terrain of the Great Salt Lake Desert and the Humboldt River Valley.

The First transcontinental railroad was routed around the north end of the range, on its way to Promontory Summit in Utah.

[2] The later Western Pacific Railroad line, which crosses the Great Salt Lake Desert, tunneled through the range at Flower Pass (which was itself part of the historic Hastings Cutoff route).