Over 30 high mountain lakes grace the range, and subalpine spruce-fir forests give way at lower elevations to groves of ponderosa pine and douglas fir. Lodgepole pine and western larch are abundant. Wildlife includes black bear, mountain lions, and some mountain goats. Grizzly bear and gray wolf are sporadic visitors. Only a single dirt road separates the Rattlesnake Mountains from the Mission Mountains to the north.