The species may not occur south of the Sierra Surutato in Sinaloa. Apparently suitable habitat occurs in Durango, well south of the current known range, but other ranid frogs occur there and specimens of Rana tarahumarae have not been collected in Durango. Rangewide, most localities are in the mountains of eastern Sonora. The species is extirpated from all localities in Arizona. The last observation of a Tarahumara frog in Arizona was in May 1983 in Big Casa Blanca Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains.
Permanent water is probably necessary for metamorphosis.
The reasons why the Tarahumara frog disappeared from Arizona are not clear. Metals occur naturally in streamside deposits and may be mobilized by acid precipitation events. Cadmium toxicity may have contributed to observed Tarahumara frog die-offs in Arroyo La Carabina, Arroyo Pinos Altos, and Arroyo La Colonia in Sonora, and Big Casa Blanca and Sycamore canyons in Arizona. Recent evidence suggests a fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, may also be a factor in declines and extirpations of the species from Arizona and some localities in northern Sonora. This same disease has been implicated in declines of frog and toad populations in other areas of North America, Central America, Australia, and elsewhere.