The coloring on the snake's belly tends to be cream to yellowish, fading to white toward the head, and coral pink toward the tail.

The northernmost part of its geographic range is in south central Washington, and continues southward into the Great Basin between the Cascade-Sierran crest and the continental divide.

In the Western United States its range also extends outside of the Great Basin into the Rogue River Valley in southwestern Oregon and northern California.

[citation needed] The striped whipsnake is commonly found in a wide variety of habitats including shrublands, grasslands, sagebrush flats, canyons, piñon-juniper woodlands, and open pine-oak forests.

It seeks shelter in rock outcrops, small mammal burrows, as well as in trees and shrubs depending on the habitat it occupies.

After fertilization the female striped whipsnake will lay a clutch of 3-12 eggs, between the months of June and July,[citation needed] usually in an abandoned rodent burrow.