The Puente Hills lie to the south of the San Gabriel Valley and the Pomona Freeway (State Route 60), to the east of the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605), to the north of Whittier Boulevard, and to the west of the city of Diamond Bar and Chino Hills.

Vascular Plants of the Whittier Hills, a floristic study, was completed by Julie A. Schneider Ljubenkov and Timothy S. Ross (2001), and published in Crossosoma.

[5][6] The Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority directs the acquisition, restoration, and management of open space in the Puente Hills for preservation of the land to protect the biological diversity and provide opportunities for outdoor education and low-impact recreation, and scheduled hikes are offered.

[11] It has trails into native coastal sage scrub habitats, and up to vistas of the Los Angeles Basin.

[17] In the early 1930s an unsuccessful high-voltage experiment was made at Turnbull Canyon (near Skyline Drive) in an attempt to create rain.

[19] In the 1953 film adaptation of H. G. Wells' science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, the Puente Hills was the location of an unsuccessful attempt to use a nuclear bomb against the Martian invaders.

[21] In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Doc Brown introduces the iconic Delorean time machine in the parking lot of Puente Hills Mall.

[22] The October 1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake revealed a previously unrecognized fault line under the Puente Hills Area.