The Vercors includes the largest alpine karst area in the Northern French pre-alps, and contains a number of large and deep cave systems.

This sporting area is environmentally protected, and although the natural environment has been drastically altered throughout history for the purposes of agriculture and forestry, plans for afforestation will make it one of the major forests of Metropolitan France and a reserve for species such as the southern tulip and black grouse, two symbols of the park, as well as the re-introduced griffon vulture and the alpine ibex.

The differences in climate and altitude across the Vercors are reflected in the high level of diversity in the fauna and flora.

Members of the cult the Order of the Solar Temple infamously committed mass murder-suicide in the Vercors in 1995.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Ferrand explored the massif, taking numerous photographs, publishing books, and describing the geology of the mountains.

The four mountains area has been developed for tourism and skiing but is also known for its traditional activities such as the breeding of dairy cows and cheese making.

The main villages, Autrans, Méaudre, Lans-en-Vercors, and Villard-de-Lans, are spread over two plateaus covered by wooded hills.

Grassy areas are used as pastures in the summer months, and the biannual migration (transhumance) of animals is a period of celebration for the people of Die.

The Trièves, in the east, is a low hilly plateau, which lies between the highest summits of the Vercors and the gorge carved out by the Drac.

The Grotte de Bournillon, located in the commune of Châtelus, has the highest cave opening in Europe at 105 metres (344 ft).

The village of La-Chapelle-en-Vercors, approximately in the center of the massif, has a Dfb climate under the Köppen Classification system.

The constituent rocks of the Vercors were formed by sedimentation about 165 million years ago, in the middle Jurassic period, at the bottom of the Piemont-Liguria Ocean.

Then, about 130 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period, a rise in temperatures combined with shallow waters led to the development of coral reefs, which abounded with molluscs, particularly rudists.

These were the origin of the Urgonian Limestone which forms the upper part of the massif, more prominently in the northern half.

In the Paleogene period, the Tethys ocean closed up and at the start of the Miocene, the raising of the Alps involved the thrusting of a nappe to the west.

Sedimentary rocks were raised 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above the current location of the Massif des Écrins and faulted and folded in the process.

There was widening of the gorges and erosion of the cliffs from runoff, leading to the formation of the molasse in the Royans and also in the valleys of Lans, Autrans, and Rencurel.