The strange rock formations of Phu Hin Rong Kla and fields where the Siam tulip flower (Curcuma alismatifolia), known as dok krachiao (ดอกกระเจียว) in Thai, grows wild are some of the characteristics of the Phetchabun Mountains.

The eastern range separates the broad Chao Phraya river basin of central Thailand from the Khorat Plateau of Isan.

The southern limit of the Phetchabun massif is not clearly defined, roughly beginning south of the 16th parallel north where both ranges become a group of scattered mountains of lesser height, rarely surpassing 800 m, extending southwards.

The eastern mountain chain is mentioned as the Phang Hoei Range in some geographical works,[2] a name that encompasses the whole northern section of the Dong Phaya Yen mountain system, for Khao Phang Hoei is a 1,008 m high summit west of Chaiyaphum town, beyond the southern end of the Phetchabun Range proper in the northern Dong Phaya Yen.

[4] At that time insurgents of the Communist Party of Thailand established their base in hidden mountain locations and fought skirmishes against the Thai Army.