The California red-legged frog is found primarily in wetlands and streams in coastal drainages of central California. Its historic range extended from Point Reyes National Seashore, coastally, and Redding, California, inland southward to northwestern Baja California.

California red-legged frogs have been documented in the past in 46 counties in California. Today they are known to occur in about 238 streams or drainage in 23 counties. They are still locally abundant within portions of the San Francisco Bay area (including Marin County) and the central coast. Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties support the greatest amount of currently occupied habitat. Only four areas within the entire historic range of the subspecies may currently support more than 350 adults.

Within the remaining distribution of the species, only isolated populations have been documented in the Sierra Nevada, northern Coast, and northern Transverse ranges. The species is believed to be extirpated from the southern Transverse and Peninsular ranges, but is still present in Baja California, Mexico.