Major cities near the Swan Range include Kalispell and Bigfork to the northwest, and Seeley Lake on the south.

Streams running off the east side of the range drain into the 98-mile (158 km) South Fork Flathead River.

The 50-mile (80 km) long Hungry Horse Reservoir, formed by damming the South Fork, lies to the northeast.

It is the highest and least broken ridge in the region, the higher peaks rising to ten and eleven thousand feet.

"[5] Listed from north to south, the cities and towns bordering the Swan Range are Columbia Falls, La Salle, Creston, Bigfork, Seeley Lake and Lincoln.