The range rises to a peak elevation of 8,976 feet (2,736 m) on Mount Isto. Other notable peaks include Mount Hubley (8914 feet), Mount Chamberlin (8898 feet), Mount Michelson (8855 feet), Mount Igikpak (8276 feet), The Gates of Kiev (7775 feet) highest point in central part of range, Cockedhat Mountain (7410 feet), Black Mountain (5020 feet) highest point in the western part of range,

While the range is mostly uninhabited, the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline System run through the Atigun Pass (1,415 m, 4,643 ft) on their way to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope.

In the far west, near the Wulik River in the De Long Mountains is the Red Dog mine, the largest zinc mine in the world.

The Brooks Range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old.

The Alaska Native villages of Anaktuvuk and Arctic Village, as well as the very small communities of Coldfoot, Wiseman, Bettles, and Chandalar, are the only settlements in the Brooks Range.

Alaska Natives are indigenous peoples of Alaska, United States and include: Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups.

Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.

Ancestors of Alaska Natives migrated into the area thousands of years ago, many who are descendants of a third wave of migration in which people settled across the northern part of North America but never migrated to southern areas. For this reason, genetic studies show they are not closely related to Native Americans in South America.