The area runs from low meadows (around 3,000 feet or 910 meters above sea level), to the 11,918-foot (3,633 m) Mount Charleston.

It adjoins the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

Spring Mountains National Recreation Area is home to several plant and animal species that are threatened.

This was the driving force to create the Mount Charleston Wilderness area.

Additional land was added in 1989 to bring the area up to the current 316,000+ acres (1,279 km2).