Bob Blake (Herb Jeffries) and his sidekick Dusty (Lucius Brooks) are two cowboys riding across the countryside in search of adventure.

They come across a ranch where it appears a murder has taken place but they find the victim of the crime, Jim Dennison (Leonard Christmas), still alive.

Bob sets out to save Margaret and narrowly escapes a plot to frame him for the murder of one of the ranch foremen, Jim Connors (Tom Southern).

Sets for all-black movies (especially Westerns) were difficult to come by; Harlem Rides the Range (and other Herb Jeffries films) were shot at the 40-acre (16 ha) Murray's Dude Ranch in Apple Valley, California.

The ranch's renewed popularity again enabled the Murrays to return to their original mission of helping inner city youth.