This ecoregion occupies the south-central interior of British Columbia and adjacent Washington state between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ranges to the west.

Lower elevations contain communities of ponderosa pine, bluebunch wheatgrass, blue grass, June-grass, and Great Basin sagebrush.

Higher elevations are home to communities lodgepole pine, quaking aspen, white spruce, western larch, and Douglas-fir.

[5] Mammals in this region include Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), moose (Alces alces), yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), and wapiti (Cervis canadensis).

Approximately 20% of the Okanagan dry forests remains intact, with most parts having been heavily altered due to clearing of land for agricultural production.