It has an area of 15,193 hectares, and is located within six municipalities: San Martín de Hidalgo, Tecolotlán, Cocula, Atengo, Tenamaxtlán, and Ameca.

[2] The Sierra de Quila is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, a system of mountains that runs east–west through central Mexico.

In the 1950s, the inhabitants of Tecolotlán, with the leadership of Gabriel Agraz García de Alba, founded a grouping that had as its principal objective the prevention of forestal exploitation of the area.

[3] From 1970 to 1980, more manifestations regarding the prevention of irrational forestal exploitation took place which pressured the municipality of Tecolotlán to create the Pro-Conservation Committee of the Forests and Springs of the Sierra de Quila which protected the natural resources of the area and prohibited clandestine activities within the area.

It was the more recent and smaller of the two wildlife protection areas in the state, the other being La Primavera (near Guadalajara).