The area is a glacially-scoured mountain range of white quartzite conglomerate rock with a patchy layer of shallow soils harboring the most unique pine barrens of the northeast U.S., and occurring within a largely unfragmented chestnut oak forest. Wetlands exist in depressions of the rock and a few deep lakes formed in eroded faults and fractures. The site contains a globally rare 2000-acre dwarf pine ridge community. The area supports 27 rare plants, nine rare insects, and three other rare natural communities. With only low levels of fragmentation and a high level of biological diversity, the Northern Shawangunks is one of The Nature Conservancy's highest priorities for protection in the NE United States.
Agriculture is an active but declining industry, primarily in down-sloping areas.
An exceptional example of a characteristic higher elevation forest community with particularly good representation of a pine woods community. Peregrine Falcons breed in at least one location here. The lack of fire is the primary threat for this fire-adapted ecosystem, altering the structure of vegetation communities. Scattered residential development is having a serious cumulative effect by fragmenting natural communities, threatening their integrity and limiting management options. Rock climbers have impacted cliff and talus communities, disturbing habitat for species such as Peregrine Falcons.