Presently relictual slender salamanders exist at only two sites on Breckenridge Mountain separated by a mere three miles.

This locale is south and west of the range of the Kern Canyon slender salamander (Batrachoseps simatus).

The species formerly existed to the west in the lower Kern River Canyon (the location of the type locality), but these populations have all gone extinct for unknown reasons.

Further down the Kern River Canyon, the Gregarious slender salamander (Batrachoseps gregarius) occurs.

The relictual slender salamander's natural habitats are freshwater springs and riparian areas, interior chaparral and woodlands, and temperate coniferous forests.