The distribution of whitebark pine is split into two broad sections. Western populations of whitebark pine extend from about 55 degrees N. in western British Columbia, along the lower part of the Fraser River, south into Washington and along the Cascade Mountains, southward through the high mountains of Washington and Oregon into California. Eastern populations occur southward from about 55 degrees N. in central Alberta, Canada, and follow the northern Rocky Mountains south into western Montana and central Idaho.
Stands are extensive in northwestern Wyoming.
Whitebark pine does not occur south of the Wyoming Basin. In western North America whitebark pine is a dominant or codominant species in many high-elevation forests. Publications using whitebark pine in classification schemes are listed below. Coniferous forest habitat types of the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming.