The Kuznetsk Alatau consists of several ridges of medium height stretching for about 300 kilometres (186 mi) between the Kuznetsk Depression and the Minusinsk Depression. The highest peak^{[citation needed]} is 2,217 metres (7,274 ft) high Staraya Krepost, another important peak is 2,178 metres (7,146 ft) high Verkhny Zub. The Abakan Range is at the southern limit and to the north the range descends gradually to the West Siberian Plain. To the east lies the basin of the Yenisei. The mountains have generally a smooth outline with rather steep western slopes and gentler eastern ones.^[3][2]

The range is composed mainly of metamorphic rocks rich in iron, manganese, nephelines, and gold.

The Siberian fir overwhelmingly predominates in the forest belt except for its upper part where, at the tree line (1300–1900 m), the siberian pine becomes dominant. The highlands are occupied mostly by vast large-stoned screes, and also by patches of subalpine meadows and, on some southern mountain massifs, of bushy, lichen and moss tundras. The basin of the Kondoma River in Gornaya Shoriya is remarkable for the Siberian lime-tree woods which are thought to be the relics of a pre-Pleistocene nemoral vegetation of Siberia. All over the upland, the forest openings are occupied by long forb forest meadows.^[3]

• Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed in into the Kuznetsk Alatau
• Kuznetsk Alatau Nature Reserve
• Geography of South-Central Siberia
•   Siberia portal