The habitat of this species is presumed to be the same as that for Plethodon glutinosus: Wooded slopes, ravines, floodplains, shale banks, and cave entrances, most often in hardwood forest, sometimes in pinelands. It is generally under or in rotting logs, stumps, or leaf-litter, or under rocks, during the day. It goes underground during dry or freezing weather. Eggs are laid in rotting logs, underground, or in rock crevices, where they develop directly without a larval stage. It is unclear as to whether or not it is tolerant of habitat disturbance.

This species is found in the eastern United States of America, in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces of Virginia and North Carolina west to the French Broad River and south to the northern Piedmont of South Carolina, and parts of the Valley and Ridge physiographic province in western Virginia and extreme eastern West Virginia and in a small area of the Coastal Plain of eastern Virginia (Highton et al. 1989). It is probably also present in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Valley and Ridge provinces in northeastern Tennessee (Redmond and Scott 1996).

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species is present in several protected areas throughout its range.

Conservation Needed
Maintenance of mature hardwood forest habitat is key to the long-term persistence of viable populations of this species (Petranka 1998)

Research Needed
Taxonomic research is needed to clarify its status.