It is part of the North Penn Valley region that is centered around the borough of Lansdale.

Station Square, one of the first new transit oriented developments in the Delaware Valley, is located in Upper Gwynedd on the border with Lansdale.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 8.1 square miles (21 km2), all land.

As of the 2010 census, the township was 81.1% White, 4.2% Black or African American, 12.3% Asian, and 1.5% were two or more races.

[8] The Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (I-476) is the most prominent highway passing through Upper Gwynedd Township.

U.S. Route 202 is the most prominent highway providing local access, traversing the eastern edge of the township along the Dekalb Pike and a new parkway.

U.S. Route 202 Business follows the old alignment of US 202 along the Dekalb Pike north of the new parkway's southern terminus.

SEPTA provides Suburban Bus service to Upper Gwynedd Township along Route 94, which runs between the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and the Montgomery Mall, and Route 96, which runs between the Norristown Transportation Center in Norristown and Lansdale.

The township is so named because it was originally settled largely by migrants from Gwynedd and other parts of North Wales in the 17th and 18th centuries.