Rocky bluffs, summit ridges, and Lake Superior shores in Keweenaw Co., though oddly, not known on Isle Royale (though well known on the Canadian shore of Lake Superior).

This is reminiscent of a robust Carex deflexa, with larger and longer beaked perigynia and occurring in drier habitats. Disjunct to the Lake Superior region from the Rocky Mountains and a number of hills and low mountains in the western portion of the Great Plains (like the Black Hills, Cypress hills, etc.).