- It lies on the northwestern side of the Nilgiri Hills, in Nilgiri District, about 150 kilometers north-west of Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu, India
- It is spread over 321 sq.km. at the tri-junction of three states, viz, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
- This is the first Sanctuary to be set up in India and forms part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Park.
- The tiger reserveplays a unique role by forming part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, the first Biosphere Reserve in India, declared during 1986.
- It has a common boundary with Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) on the West, Bandipore Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) on the North, and the Nilgiris North Division on the South and East and Gudalur Forest Division on the South West, together forming a large conservation landscape for flagship species such as Tiger and Asian Elephant.
- The name Mudumalai means” the ancient hill range”.
- The Mayor river and the life around it is an experience by itself.
- The reserve straddles the Ooty -Mysore interstate national highway, roughly midway between the two cities and thus could be approached with equal facility either way
