[1] It is found on the Pacific coast of North America, from the San Francisco Bay Area southwards into Baja California.

It extends as far east as the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, but does not grow in the Central Valley, nor at heights greater than about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).

It grows on hillsides, in chaparral, and in open woodland.

The pipestem clematis can be distinguished from the similar (but much more widely ranging) virgin's bower by the fact that pipestems normally only have one flower on each stalk, and at most three, whereas the virgin's bower has multiple flowers on each stem.

The pipestem also has more pistils in each flower, but since both species have many, this is not an easy criterion to apply.