Patalkot sits within the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, formed as a horseshoe-shaped depression in the Satpura range. Its cliff-encircled basin, dense sal and teak cover, and the meandering Doodhi River at its floor give the valley a topography distinct from the plateaus and hill stations that surround it. Local tradition links the site's name to "Patal Lok," the netherworld of Hindu cosmology — a reference to both its physical depth and its long-held air of mystery.

The valley's floor and slopes remain home to the Bharia and Gond communities, whose settlements, subsistence farming, and traditional knowledge of medicinal forest plants reflect patterns of habitation that have persisted with limited external contact. This combination of geological rarity, ecological density, and sustained indigenous presence places Patalkot outside the conventional hill-station or wildlife-park category, and closer to a living cultural-geographic site.