The first written document to mention Wistman's Wood date to the 17th century, while more recent tree-ring studies show that individual trees could be many hundreds of years old.

[8][9] In 2023, William, Prince of Wales as Duke of Cornwall announced a scheme in collaboration with Natural England to preserve, regenerate and double the size of the rainforest by 2040.

[11] Acorns will be collected from the ancient trees to plant new saplings and both animal grazing and human foot traffic will be reduced in order to regenerate it sensitively.

[11] Part of the land area designated as Wistman's Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

[4] These occupy the sheltered, south-west facing slope of the valley, where a bank of large granite boulders ("clatter") is exposed, and pockets of acidic, free-draining, brown earth soils have accumulated.

The trees also developed highly contorted forms with procumbent trunks, and their main branches tend to lie on or between the rocks on the forest floor.

[4] The horizontal habit of the trunks and limbs allows organic debris and humus to accumulate on them, favoring extensive growth of epiphytic vascular plants.

These occur in much greater variety than in other British woodlands; in addition to polypody, which is the most common recorded epiphyte, and bilberry, these include many of the same species found on the forest floor.

[4] Photographic and other records show that Wistman's Wood has changed considerably since the mid-19th century; at the same time climatic conditions have also generally become warmer.

[21] The legendary Wild Hunt in Devon, whose hellhounds are known as Yeth (Heath) or Wisht Hounds in the Devonshire dialect, is particularly associated with Wistman's Wood.