It is located in Gorski Kotar, the most mountainous and heavily forested region of the country, about 15 km inland from the Adriatic Sea.

The massif is located on the northern part of the Dinaric Alps, and marks the divide between the Adriatic and Black Sea watersheds.

Although Risnjak is of only a modest altitude, it is nevertheless a very significant climatic and vegetational barrier between coastal and continental parts of Croatia.

Adriatic and continental weather patterns collide here and play a significant role in determining the park's climate.

It has pleasantly warm summers and an average temperature of up to 22 °C; springs and autumns are rainy, and the winter is long and snowy.

Areas within the park called ponikvas experience a microclimate where, because of temperature inversions, the lower regions are colder than those at higher altitudes.

The upper border of this ecotone is marked by impenetrable underbrush in form of shrubs creating a unique ecosystem, which has been termed the Fagelatum croaticum subalpinum fruticosu.

The lynx was exterminated during the 19th century but returned to Risnjak three decades ago, after a successful reintroduction project in neighboring Slovenia.

On its southern slope is located the mountain lodge called Šloserov dom, built by Josip Schlosser.

The peak can be reached only on foot, from Crni Lug (3 h) or from an unpaved road beginning in Gornje Jelenje (1h).

Guslica is a peak about an hour's walk from Snježnik, with an altitude of 1490 m. It is the site of an abandoned Yugoslav People's Army complex.

It is a circular walk 4.5 km long, beginning and ending at the visitor center in Crni Lug.