It is near Lake Lyndon and is located within Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park. State Highway 73 travels through the pass on its route from Springfield to Cass, and it is the last mountain pass on the route eastwards from Westland to Christchurch. It is also the third-highest point on the South Island's state highway network after the Lindis Pass and the Milford Road (though it is just one metre lower). Although Arthur's Pass is better known, Porters Pass is actually a few metres higher, and it affords views of the Canterbury Plains.