Īlthough no settlements exist on the mountains themselves, the valleys and surrounding plains are home to many towns and villages. One important plant that commonly grows in the Alvand valleys is the gavar or goat's thorn, which produces the gum known as tragacanth which is used in medicine and industry. Today, the higher altitudes have a sparse cover of grass, while grass cover grows more thickly around springs and streams. The area was once covered by a light oak forest, but extensive deforestation in historical times has reduced this to only a small area, mostly in the valleys. The mountains are mostly granite and diorite, which are types of intrusive rock. Formed as part of the Zagros orogeny in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous, the mountains rise sharply from the surrounding plains and are scored by many deep valleys. The main body of the Alvand range extends for about 50 km from east to west, while their maximum north-south width is about 30 km.
Its summit has an elevation of 3,580 m (11,750 ft).
Alvand is a subrange of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran located 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the city of Hamadan in Hamadan Province.
