It is present in the northern part of the North American Cordillera, stretching from Montana, Idaho, and Washington in the northwestern United States, through Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon in western Canada.

[1][3][4][5] It was named for the Windermere map-area in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia by J.F.

[2] The Windermere rocks include Ediacaran fossils and stromatolites,[4] and host deposits of base and precious metals.

[2] The Windermere consists primarily of coarse-grained feldspathic conglomerates and pebbly sandstones, with lesser amounts of pelitic shales, dolomites, and limestones.

[3] Most of the Windermere rocks were deposited as deep-water turbidite flows along a continental margin or in an active volcanic rift basin.