It is a tree native to the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir of Baja California state in northwestern Mexico.

[4] The tree is confined to montane coniferous forests on steep slopes and in canyons from 1,900 to 2,520 meters elevation.

[1] Hesperocyparis montana is Critically Endangered, with fewer than 250 mature trees living in the wild.

The principal threat to the species is uncontrolled livestock grazing which allows cattle to trample and eat seedlings, preventing the trees from reproducing.

[2] Considerable taxonomic debate as to its status followed with many authors including Elbert Luther Little (1907-2004) and Albert Edward Murray (1935-) reducing it to a variety or subspecies of what was then classified as Cupressus arizonica.