The Lattengebirge lie northeast of the Reiteralm, from which they are separated by the mountain pass of Schwarzbachwacht, and west of the Untersberg, from which they are separated by the Hallthurm Pass. They are located within the municipalities of Ramsau, Bischofswiesen, Bayerisch Gmain, Bad Reichenhall and Schneizlreuth, as well as the former unparished areas (now parishes of the respective municipalities of) Forst Taubensee (Ramsau), Forst St. Zeno (Bayerisch Gmain, Bad Reichenhall und Schneizlreuth) and Bischofswiesener Forst (Bischofswiesen), and they are also within the Berchtesgaden Biosphere Reserve. The Saalach, a southwestern tributary of the Salzach, flows past the Lattengebirge to the northwest running in a southwest to northeast direction.