Located in the Sierra Madre Oriental in the Northern Arid Zone of Mexico, Frightful Cave is surrounded by desert. The area is largely too arid and rainfall is too undependable for cultivation, although edible plants can be found and the mountain ranges are covered in pine and oak forest. Many groups seem to have lived in the Coahuila region despite this arid climate, but they did not practice agriculture. The early desert culture started here in the Archaic period has been identified as one of the roots of later Mesoamerican cultures, and lasted through to the 19th century among Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin (such as the Paiute and the Shoshone) and among some native peoples of the Mexican Northern Arid Zone (such as the Seri).