The species' habitats include rocky desert canyons, foothills, and bajadas, in vegetation zones ranging from thornscrub, ocotillo-mesquite-creosote bush, saguaro-paloverde, mesquite grassland, and chaparral to tropical deciduous forest (southern Sonora) and the lower edge of oak woodland (Behler and King 1979, Lowe et al. 1986, Ernst and Ernst 2003, Stebbins 2003, Campbell and Lamar 2004). In southeastern Arizona, this snake occurs strictly in rocky areas in winter and spring but uses edges of arroyos in summer (Beck 1995). It is a terrestrial species but may climb into low vegetation.

The species' range extends from central Arizona south through south-central Arizona in the United States (Lowe et al. 1986, Painter and Milensky, 1993, Howland et al. 2002), to southern Sonora, Mexico, including Isla Tiburon in the Gulf of California, at elevations from sea level to about 1,465m asl (4,800 feet) (Stebbins 2003, Campbell and Lamar 2004). Reported occurrences at higher elevations have not been confirmed (Campbell and Lamar 2004).

Some occurrences of this species are in protected areas.