Habitat includes woodlands, forest clearings, patchy chaparral, meadows, and grassy savannas, generally not far from water; also riparian zones in arid canyons and sagebrush in some areas (Nussbaum et al. 1983, Brown et al. 1995, St. John 2002, Stebbins 2003). Generally this snake is found in or under rotting logs or stumps, under rocks or in crevices, or under the bark of dead fallen trees.

The range extends from southern British Columbia south to west-central California (probably southward to San Luis Obispo County), central Nevada, and southern Utah, from the Pacific coast east to north-central Wyoming and western Montana, from near sea level to about 3,050 m (10,000 feet) (Stewart 1977, Stebbins 2003). Distribution is spotty in many areas, particularly at the southern and eastern fringes of the range. Disjunct Charina subpopulations in the mountains of southern California are now recognized as a distinct species, C. umbratica (Rodriguez-Robles et al. 2001, Crother 2008, Stebbins and McGinnis 2012), though the species occurring in the mountains (mostly in Kern County) north of the San Bernardino Mountains and San Jacinto Mountains is uncertain (here they are provisionally included in C. bottae).

Many occurrences are in national and state parks and other protected areas. It is listed in CITES Appendix II.