[1] The usually branched plant forms small clumps consisting of many stems.

The broad, funnel-shaped, dioecious, red flowers appear below the shoot tip.

[2] Plants are found growing in gravel soil in grasslands along with bushes and Pinyon-Juniper woodlands in Nevada, Arizona and Washington County, Utah at elevations of 500–2,450 m (1,640–8,040 ft).

[2][3] Echinocereus bakeri was first collected in Yavapai County, Arizona in 2001 by Marc A. Baker.

The species was later described in 2015 by Wolfgang Blum, Traute and Jorn Oldach who named it after its discoverer.