Bright Star Wilderness surrounds 5,090-foot (1,551 m) Kern County's Kelso Peak and drainages to the north, south and east, including Bright Star Canyon and Cortez Canyon.

[5] The Wilderness lies within the BLM's Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern in the higher Mojave Desert and protects much of the Piute Mountains, of the southern Sierra Nevada (not to be confused with the Piute Mountains to east in Mojave National Preserve).

[4] A wide variety of vegetation grows in the Bright Star Wilderness.

The upper slopes of Kelso Peak are dotted with Single-leaf piñon pine (Pinus monophylla) and California juniper (Juniperus californica), while the lower slopes are brushy and broken by large granite outcroppings.

The valley below the peak is dense with Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia).