Oriented generally north to south, the Trout Creek Mountains consist primarily of fault blocks of basalt, which came from an ancient volcano and other vents, on top of older metamorphic rocks.

Vegetation includes large swaths of big sagebrush in addition to desert grasses and cottonwood and alder stands.

Sage grouse and mountain chickadee are two bird species native to the range, and common mammals include pronghorn and jackrabbits.

Despite the area's dry climate, a few year-round streams provide habitat for the rare Lahontan cutthroat trout.

The Trout Creek Mountain Working Group was formed in 1988 to help resolve disagreements among livestock owners, environmentalists, government agencies, and other interested parties.

The Trout Creek Mountains are in a very remote area of southeastern Oregon and northern Nevada,[5] in Harney and Humboldt counties.

The highest point in the range is Orevada View Benchmark, which is 8,506 feet (2,593 m) above sea level and is located in Nevada about one mile south of the Oregon border.

[1][5] About two miles southeast of Orevada View is Disaster Peak,[9] "a large, symmetrical butte that is visible throughout the region.

[14][15] The terrain in the Trout Creek Mountains varies from broad, flat basins and rolling ridges to high rock escarpments cut by deep canyons.

The Trout Creek Mountains are uplifted and tilted fault blocks with steep escarpments along the southern and eastern sides.

[19] About 17 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch, the Yellowstone hotspot was located beneath the thinning crust of southeastern Oregon and caused eruptions from Steens and nearby vents.

[19] Subsequent faulting associated with the regional crustal thinning of the Basin and Range uplifted and tilted these rocks to shape them into the Trout Creek Mountains.

The oval-shaped caldera is a collapsed lava dome that straddles the Oregon–Nevada border on the eastern side of the range south of the Oregon Canyon Mountains.

The meadows surround springs, which are mostly on gently sloping uplands or in stream bottoms, and range in size from about 1 to 5 acres (0.40 to 2.02 ha).

Years of heavy livestock grazing in parts of the range resulted in the loss of some grass species, riparian vegetation, and young aspen and willow trees.

[31] However, large wildfires in southeastern Oregon during the summer of 2012 burned much of the range's vegetation, damaging riparian ecosystems and killing hundreds of grazing cattle.

[36] North American beavers live in and along streams,[6] as do Pacific tree frogs, western spadefoot toads, and garter snakes.

[46] However, mineral exploration has continued at the Cordero Mine in the 21st century,[47] and waste containing mercury and arsenic was returned there from the community of McDermitt as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup project.

The mountains are also suitable for hiking cross-country or on game trails in natural corridors along canyons and creek bottoms.

[34] By the 1970s and 1980s, a century of intense cattle grazing had reduced much of the riparian vegetation along stream banks in the Trout Creek Mountains and elsewhere in the Great Basin.

Aspen populations declined as grazing cattle eliminated young trees, decreasing shade over streams and raising water temperatures.

Since the Lahontan was officially designated as a threatened species, environmental groups began advocating the cancellation of grazing permits in the Trout Creek Mountains.

[34][53] Beginning in the early 1970s, the Bureau of Land Management identified damaged riparian zones and began projects to restore natural habitat in those areas.

Initially, it appeared that the issue of grazing in the range would produce prolonged litigation with appeals potentially lasting decades.

The group's goal was to find a solution acceptable to everyone—a plan that would protect both the land's ecological health and ranchers' economic needs.

[31] The group eventually endorsed a grazing management plan that provided for both the ecological health of sensitive riparian areas and the economic well-being of ranchers.

In 1989, the Whitehorse Ranch agreed to rest two grazing allotments totaling 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) to restore critical stream greenways and mountain pastures.