Mount Apo the mountain to be sacred ground and a place of worship. A number of genealogies of Lumad leaders in South Central Mindanao trace their roots to Mount Apo. For the Lumads, the term "Apo" was coined from the name of their great grandparent "Apo Sandawawa". At , Mount Apo is the highest mountain & volcano in the Philippines. It is one of the country's most popular climbing destinations. Several trails lead to the summit, coming from North Cotabato and Davao provinces. Arguably the easiest route to the National Park is through Kidapawan with an average hike taking 3–4 days roundtrip.
Mount Apo mountain forests. A portion of the eastern slopes are also within the scope of the UNESCO Hydrology Environment Life and Policy (HELP) Network. The Davao HELP Network is focused on building collaboration among watershed stakeholders. In March 2015, it was taken out from the UNESCO List of Tentative Sites due to the dramatic changes (such as logging, intrusion of companies and urban and agricultural landscape, exploitation, and poaching, among others) it experienced which does not constitute the UNESCO documents that describes the park. Better conservation and a change in the content of documents was recommended by UNESCO. Mt. Apo generally