The pass enables a crossing from the Ramberg valley, through which the Dernbach stream flows, to the valley of the Modenbach. Thus Drei Buchen is part of the watershed between the catchment areas of two left-hand tributaries of the River Rhine: the Queich and the Speyerbach. The highest hill in the vicinity of Drei Buchen is the 637-metre-high Roßberg, one kilometre to the southeast, which is the third highest peak in the Palatine Forest mountain range.