Traditionally they are deemed part of the hilly region known as Sliabh Luachra[1] (anglicised 'Slieve Logher'), which also includes the Mullaghareirk Mountains.

[2][3][4] The range is characterised by moorland and limited open pasture, with 4,700 hectares of young coniferous forest plantations of mainly Sitka spruce – with Japanese larch, pines, firs and cedars, along with some broadleaved trees such as birch, ash, alder, oak, willow, sycamore, and holly – most managed by the forest management company, Coillte.

[3][5][6] The peat company, Bord na Móna, extracted about 250,000 tons of turf from Lyracrumpane Bog between 1938 and 1963.

Nowadays, turf is harvested by local people under turbary arrangements, using hopper machines instead of the traditional slane.

[3][5] The Lyracrumpane Development Association in cooperation with Coillte have created the four-mile "Mass Path and River Walk" along the banks of the Smearlagh River, and the ten mile "Fionn MacCumhaill" trek through open countryside and Coillte forest plantations.