The Park has a beautiful landscape of gentle slopes and shallow valleys. The largest river draining the area in the south is the Kabini, which was dammed in 1974.

Other important rivers include Lakshmana, Teentha and Nagarhole. There are several perennial and seasonal streams and tanks, all of which drain into the four major rivers. The Park mainly consists of moist deciduous forest in the northern and western parts and dry deciduous forest in the south-eastern part. A unique feature of these forests is the open grassy swamps, locally called hadlus, where the grass is lush all year-round. The swamps are numerous due to the high rainfall. Plantations of teak and species of eucalyptus cover much of the park.