This species inhabits birch-beech-hemlock forest with witch hazel, mountain laurel, and rhododendron understorey; its home range typically includes a retreat hole (Nishikawa 1990). The highest densities occur in mature, mesic hardwood forests (Petranka 1998). It is a terrestrial breeder, with direct development.

This species occurs in the southern Appalachian reaches of eastern United States of America. More specifically, it is known to occur in the Blue Ridge physiographic province of southwestern North Carolina west of French Broad River, and immediately adjacent Tennessee; also northern Rabun County, Georgia, and Oconee, Pickens, Abbeville and Anderson counties, South Carolina (Highton 1983, Petranka 1998), and Unicoi Mountains in Monroe and Polk counties, and the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevier and Cocke counties, in Tennessee (Redmond and Scott 1996). It can be found at elevations from sea level up to 1,550 m asl (Petranka 1998). Its extent of occurrence (EOO) is 17,775 km².

Conservation Actions In-Place
The majority of its range occurs in Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Great Smoky National Park, and U.S. Forest Service lands, which afford many of the subpopulations contained within some degree of protection (Petranka 1998, NatureServe 2020).