Pine Mountain's long continuous ridge spans five Kentucky counties and harbors many of southeast Kentucky's most ecologically sensitive areas. It is part of the Cumberland Mountains, an area replete with biological diversity. Pine Mountain is almost completely forested and offers a refugia and migratory corridor for plants and animals. Because few roads cross the mountain there are several very large contiguous forest blocks that are important for providing habitat for interior forest species. Elk, deer and many other animals use the long mountain corridor to move between areas, as do raptors and numerous other birds. Black bear have used this corridor to recolonize the state. Limited inventories have already documented at least 49 rare plants and 34 rare animals including three federally listed species. The mountain supports many different ecological communities including mixed-mesophytic forest, Hemlock-mixed forest, Appalachian oak forest, pine-oak forest, Virginia pine woodland, pine barrens, mountaintop bogs, high quality mountain streams and caves. The mountain is considered both biologically and ecologically outstanding.