The Brooks Range ecoregion consists of several groups of rugged, deeply dissected mountains carved from uplifted sedimentary rock. The region traverses much of the east-west extent of northern Alaska, from the Canadian border to within 60 miles of the Chukchi Sea. Elevation of mountain peaks ranges from 2600 feet in the relatively low Baird Mountains in the west to 8000 feet in the central and eastern Brooks Range.

Pleistocene glaciation was extensive, and small glaciers persist at elevations above 5900 feet. An arctic climatic regime and unstable hill slopes maintain a sparse cover of dwarf scrub vegetation throughout the mountains through some valleys provide more mesic sites for graminoid herbacious communities.