The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.

The range has had a significant number of mines utilising the geologically rich zone of Mount Read Volcanics.

The range has encompassed multiple land uses including the catchment area for Hydro Tasmania dams, mines, transport routes and historical sites.

These are determined by a number of factors - the southerly direction of glaciation in the King River Valley[4] and around the Tyndalls;[5] as well as the general north -south orientation of the West Coast Range itself.

The devastation of forests close to the mining operations at Queenstown was substantial as early as the 1890s, and continued late into the twentieth century.

The eastern side of the range is on the western boundary of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, and at these points the forests are in better condition.

Due to change in population distribution and resources in the west coast, the main weather data is currently from Strahan Airport and Mount Read.

Of the mountains that are viewable from Macquarie Harbour - most were names associated with the proponents for and against the ideas that Charles Darwin was putting forward in the late 19th century.

Conservation measures in recent decades have put special restrictions on the activity so as to not replicate the damage of the Mount Lyell operation.

Similarly the lines that connected with the Emu Bay Railway - the North East Dundas Tramway for example, did not traverse the range, but travelled to the foot of the mountains where the mines were active.

The Lyell Highway connection running through the West Coast range at the Linda Valley was not constructed until the 1930s.

The road to Crotty from Queenstown (or more correctly the locality of Lynchford), built as the Mount Jukes Road by the Hydro as part of the King River dam scheme in the 1980s passed high above the King River Gorge on the northern side of Mount Jukes.

[46] There have been a significant number of temporary helicopter landing sites throughout the range used by Hydro Tasmania and mineral exploration activities - but no inventory is known of these locations.