Mount Banks is part of the Explorers Range, which is located along the northern escarpment of the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains National Park. The Explorers Range starts at Bells Line of Road and extends along the northern edge of the Grose Valley. Mount Banks is the first noticeable peak along the range and is found about from Bells Line of Road. It was named Mount Banks in 1804 by the explorer George Caley, who had worked for the botanist Sir Joseph Banks. Caley who was the first European to reach Mount Banks.