[1] The forest is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Fresno, California, between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The area is old-growth forest at 2,000 to 2,800 metres (6,600 to 9,200 ft) elevation and consists primarily of mixed-conifer and red fir forest common on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.

The forest was established in the 1930s when California state and federal agencies began exploring how the Central Valley of California's water supply might be increased through management of Sierra Nevada watersheds.

Stream gauge stations and sediment basins were built in the 1940s.

There is a bunkhouse cabin, dry laboratory, and storage garage.