It is native to the western United States and British Columbia, where it grows in rocky mountain habitats.

This herbaceous perennial grows from a short, thick taproot and caudex unit.

It produces a basal rosette of many thick, fleshy, tapering, blunt-tipped or pointed leaves with smooth edges, each 2 to 10 centimeters long.

Just under the flower are small, pointed bracts tipped with shiny spherical resin glands.

Lewisia columbiana grows on rocks or in gravel or rocky soil, usually in full sun.