Widely distributed, Calostoma cinnabarinum can be found from Massachusetts south to Florida in the United States. Its range extends at least as far west as Texas, with possible populations in the Southwest, but is most common in the Appalachian Mountains where it becomes more frequent with increasing elevation. It is also present in Eastern Mexico, where it grows in the subtropical cloud forests of Veracruz and Hidalgo. In Central America, it is known from Belize's Chiquibul National Park, the cloud forests of Baja Verapaz and El Quiché in Guatemala, and Panama. The species is also recorded in South America, from Colombia as far southeast as Brazil, where it is described as rare. It has also been collected from a disjunct population in Asia, where it has been recorded from seven provinces in mainland China, mostly in the southeast, including Taiwan, as well as from Indonesia, Japan, and Jirisan in South Korea.