"Like everyone else, huckleberries cannot be understood apart from the place they come from. The berry's context is appropriate to its character: wild, remote, slightly dangerous, exquisite, irreproducible. In these respects, the high ranges of the Northern Rockies are ideal huckleberry habitat.

Like other plants, Vaccinium globulare has requirements for growth and production. It has certain preferences for elevation, moisture, soil, slope, aspect to the sun and micro climate factors. However, unlike indicator species such as queen's cup or beargrass, which are found only in one particular forest type, the huckleberry is widely adapted across several ecosystems. One exception is that the berry is generally not found in dense stands of spruce/cedar habitat because the leafy cover doesn't allow enough sun to the forest floor. Otherwise the huckleberry is a genial member of the forest community and coexists happily with all manner of other species, as long as its particular needs are met by the habitat.

Truly, the amount of territory that meets those needs is vast; huckleberries are found in profusion throughout the mountains of the inland Northwest. In general, prime huckleberry habitat will have the following characteristics...."

-from the fourth chapter, The Secret Life of Huckleberries